Syria CW deadline ‘won’t be met’

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations say the deadline of December 31 for the removal of Syria’s chemical arms stockpile will not be met.

“A number of external factors have impacted upon timelines, not least the continuing volatility in overall security conditions, which have constrained planned movements,” the OPCW and the UN said in a joint statement on Saturday.

The special coordinator of the OPCW-UN joint mission on eliminating Syria’s chemical weapons, Sigrid Kaag said, “We continue to work with all state parties, particularly the Syrian Arab Republic, to intensify all efforts to… realize the goal of complete elimination of chemical weapons from the Syrian Arab Republic.”

The OPCW Executive Council is scheduled to meet on January 8 to discuss the progress of the mission to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons.

Chemical agents in Syria must be first transported to the port of Latakia in the country’s northwest before being shipped on commercial vessels. Then, the agents will be loaded onto an American ship and destroyed by using hydrolysis.

Late October, Damascus destroyed its critical chemical weapons production equipment, meeting a November 1 deadline set by the OPCW Executive Council.

On September 14, Russia and the United States agreed on a deal according to which Syria would have its chemical weapons eliminated and the US would in return scrap plans to carry out strikes on the Arab country.

SZH/HN/HJL

Source Article from http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/12/31/342917/syria-cw-deadline-wont-be-met/

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes