Practice Relating to Rule 74. Chemical Weapons
Egypt is alleged to have used chemical agents in support of republican forces during the civil war in Yemen in the period between 1963 and 1967. The primary sources of these allegations were journalists, royalist sources opposed to the Egyptian intervention, and the ICRC. On 2 June 1967, the UK Prime Minister informed the House of Commons that he had evidence suggesting that poison gas had been used in Yemen.
The Egyptian Government denied the allegations concerning the use of chemical agents in Yemen in a communiqué on 1 February 1967, in which the Minister of National Guidance stated: “In the name of the [United Arab Republic] I have been entrusted to affirm once again and in a decisive manner that the [United Arab Republic] has not used poisonous gas at any time and did not resort to using such gas even when there were military operations in Yemen.”
At the CDDH, Egypt expressed “its disappointment at the failure of the Philippine amendment, establishing as a grave breach the use of prohibited weapons, to be adopted” but noted that Article 74 of the draft Additional Protocol I (now Article 85) “as it stands now does cover the use of such weapons through their effects”.
During the 1988 Session of the Conference on Disarmament, Egypt stated:
Egypt views with deep concern the use of chemical weapons anywhere, and considers that reports to that effect should give further impetus to the speedy conclusion by the Conference of a convention in this connection … Egypt … calls upon all parties to respect international treaties and conventions and reaffirms the importance of adherence to the main principles contained in the 1925 Geneva [Gas] Protocol … Egypt does not produce, develop or stockpile such weapons, which it rightly regards as weapons of mass destruction that should be banned.
During the 1990 Session of the Conference on Disarmament, Egypt reiterated that it neither possessed nor produced chemical weapons.