Reagan, Mitterrand OK Talks in Paris on Chemical Warfare

The United States and France, striving to build international pressure on nations developing chemical weapons, announced Thursday that a global conference will be convened in Paris on chemical warfare.

The site, agreed on during a White House meeting between President Reagan and French President Francois Mitterrand, grew out of discussions at the United Nations this week.

Reagan suggested that France host the conference and the French president “indicated France’s readiness” to do so, Assistant Secretary of State Rozanne L. Ridgway told a news briefing. No date has been set, she said.

Mitterrand was asked if the conference would be held soon. “If by soon you mean three months’ time, the answer is yes,” he replied.

In a speech at the United Nations on Thursday, Mitterrand delivered an extended, impassioned indictment of chemical warfare and cited the recent “ravages” of the weapons--an apparent reference to Iraq’s alleged use of poison gas against Kurdish rebels last month.

Mitterrand reminded the assembly that both the United States and the Soviet Union have chemical weapons in their arsenals and noted that France does not.

Mitterrand, saying that the weapons must be eliminated “as quickly as possible,” proposed a detailed plan to destroy stockpiles and prevent them from being rebuilt. He called for a cooperative embargo on “all deliveries” of products, technologies and weapons to countries using the weapons.

The Paris conference is designed to address only the use, not production, of chemical weapons, Ridgway said. Nevertheless, Mitterrand’s strong statement virtually assures that some of the broader issues will be aired at the talks.

France was chosen for the conference because it is the “repository” for the 1925 Geneva Protocol outlawing the use of poison gas and the custodian of the agreements signed by the 110 countries that approved the ban.

White House officials said that those 110 countries, along with about 15 others, would be invited. It is not clear whether Iraq will participate in the meeting, although its alleged poison gas use prompted Reagan to propose the conference.

Mitterrand and Reagan discussed a number of other issues, “hitting the major topics” of concern to the two countries, including East-West relations and arms control, Ridgway said. She noted that the two presidents have met many times and described their talks as “substantive” and “cordial.”