US Lauds Inspectors After Syria Destroys Chemical Weapons Facilities - East Idaho News
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US Lauds Inspectors After Syria Destroys Chemical Weapons Facilities

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GETTY 103113 SyriaFlag?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1383280296066iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. is praising international chemical weapons inspectors for a job done swiftly, after Syria reportedly destroyed its facilities for producing chemical weapons.

“International inspectors have worked with unprecedented speed to accomplish the first milestone in eliminating Syria’s chemical weapons and reducing the possibility that they will ever be used again,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in a written statement released Thursday afternoon.

Kerry noted the $6 million the U.S. has contributed to the effort.

Earlier in the day, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons — the international body monitoring Syria’s destruction of chemical weapons — announced that Syria had met its Friday deadline in destroying or disabling all of its declared facilities for producing chemical weapons.

The announcement came just over two months after the massive chemical attack outside Damascus on Aug. 21.

Syria has not destroyed its chemical weapons stockpiles. The OPCW’s goal is to see them destroyed by mid-2014.

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