THE HAGUE: The destruction of chemical weapons is making progress, but much more needs to be done to wipe out this arsenal as less than 14.3 per cent of known stocks have been eliminated, a watchdog said on Monday.

Six countries-Albania, India, Libya, Russia, South Korea and the United States-have admitted they have chemical weapons and committed themselves to destroying them under a convention that came into effect in 1997. The weapons are to be totally eliminated by 2007, exceptionally as late as 2012.

"We come to this session with a real sense of satisfaction but we must recognize that much more needs to be done," Rogelio Pfirter, director general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) told a conference here. If Libya¡¯s pledge earlier this year to get rid of its chemical weapons program is good news, this cannot be enough, Pfirter told the opening of the Ninth Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the OPCW. "I believe that Libya joining the convention had a tremendous impact," he added.

Russia which has 40,000 tonnes of chemical weapons, the world¡¯s biggest such arsenal, has only destroyed about two percent so far, according to the OPCW. "I remain confident in the political will of the Russian governement" to wipe out this type of weapon, Pfirter said, but added: "The international community needs to continue to actively support the destruction program of the Russian governement."

So far only one plant making chemical weapons safe is in operation, but Moscow has plans for six others by 2009 and has asked for more help to finance proper investments of some three billion dollars.

Paul Walker of the non-governmental organization Global Green meanwhile warned that total elimination of chemical weapons may not happen for many years. "If we are realistic, we are looking at 2020," he told the meeting.

While the United States has destroyed about 30 percent of its chemical weapons arsenal, Walker told AFP that "it seems very unlikely that we will meet the 2012 deadline" for the elimination of all 30,000 tonnes.

"India is the only one that is ahead of schedule," said Pfirter. As for Libya, the OPCW¡¯s 167 member states were set to give the green light at the meeting to converting a chemical weapons production site into a pharmaceutical plant.

The chemical plant at Rabta, 100 kilometres south of Tripoli, which produced around 100 tonnes of sulphur mustard gas and other neurotoxic agents in the 1980s, should now produce low-priced vaccines and medicines to treat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis for Africa and developing countries. Rabta was closed in 1990 under pressure from the United States and other countries.

Libya decided in January to adhere to the Chemical Weapons Convention after announcing the previous month that it was renouncing its unconventional weapons programs.

Pfirter said that the Middle East and the Korean peninsula were "still flashing red on our map" because of their potential for chemical warfare and called on countries in the two regions to sign on to the convention.

The OPCW will continue to help countries ward off any chemical weapons attacks, he said, adding: "An organisation like ours can contribute to the global fight against terrorism."

The organisation this year inspected 1,892 chemical facilities and hopes to keep up the same pace next year. According to Pfirter 64 production units have been destroyed so far and 13 are to be converted.

The OPCW is an independent international organization which works with the United Nations to monitor the 1997 convention banning the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons, and to lobby countries that have not yet joined the treaty to do so.