Syria on Target to Get Rid of Chemical Weapons by Mid-2014
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Bunyos/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A United Nations official expressed confidence Wednesday that the Syrian government will make the deadline of getting rid of its entire chemical weapons arsenal by the middle of this year.
The New York Times quotes Sigrid Kaag as saying that Damascus is especially anxious to complete the project overseen by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and U.N. “with the shortest possible delay.”
Kaag, coordinator of the U.N. mission with the OPCW, went out of her way to tell reporters that Syria’s deadliest chemicals compounds, which are to be transported by ship for destruction, are “safe and secure, they’re properly guarded from a public perspective.”
The first batch of chemical weapons was picked up at the Syrian port of Latakia and will wait at sea until returning for the rest of the stockpiles. Eventually, the entire toxic cargo will be brought to Italy and then transferred to a U.S. ship assigned to destroy the weapons, estimated at 700 tons.
The most toxic compounds, including the nerve agent sarin, were supposed to have left Syria by Dec. 31 but a combination of security and weather problems led to a delay.
All this is taking place while Syria continues its three-year war against opposition forces, a struggle that shows no sign of resolution.
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