An OPCW rule was used to call the First Special Session to deal with the matter and by organising the support of Member-States, the U.S. was successful in replacing him.

(Please see the end of this article for a "coup" report.)

There are 145 nations who are members of the OPCW. Of these, only 11 have declared that they possess chemical weapons. These include: Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, France, India, Iran, Japan, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States, Yugoslavia and one other country which does not want itself publicly known, but has declared its chemical arsenal to the OPCW.

The largest stockpiles were held by the United States and Russia, but the United States has destroyed most of its chemical weapons arsenal and is assisting Russia with her compliance. The other nations are also making progress towards achieving the goal of a chemical-weapon free military. Of the 61 declared Chemical Weapons Production Facilities, 32 have already been certified as destroyed or converted to peaceful uses.

Obviously, the OPCW, under Bustani, has had great success in its primary mission – to rid the world of chemical weapons. Hopefully Mr. Pfirter will be able to build upon his “inheritance”.

Nevertheless, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Syria have not signed the CWC and although Israel has signed, the Knesset has yet to ratify the Convention, so all five remain outside the OPCW and therefore provide a threat to peace and the environment. Serious attempts have been ongoing to persuade all nations to join the OPCW, but with a potential shift of priorities, there are fears that these attempts will diminish.

One of the inducements to joining the OPCW and eliminating chemical weapons is the organisation’s policy of supporting international cooperation in the peaceful use of chemistry.