Pact to banish chemical arms

(First Edition)

PARIS (Reuter) - A treaty intended to banish chemical weapons from the face of the Earth was signed by 125 countries at a three-day conference which ended yesterday.

The pact, due to come into force in two years if parliaments of 65 countries have ratified it, bans the production, storage and use of chemical weapons and will debar states that have not signed from importing chemicals that could make poison gas. States will have 10 years to destroy chemical weapons. The US and Russia - which with Iraq are the only countries to admit holding them - have 15 years because of their huge stocks.