01/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - In a press release published on 31 January, the Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU welcomed Colombia's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CIBT), hoping that the ratification - which take the number of countries signed up to the ban to 144 - will set a significant example for the nine Annex 2 countries which have yet to ratify the CIBT so that it can come into force. All EU member states have ratified the CIBT, which was signed in New York on 24 September 1996. (A.B.)