Watchdog Group Calls for Syria to Finish Turning Over Chemical Weapons - East Idaho News
World

Watchdog Group Calls for Syria to Finish Turning Over Chemical Weapons

  Published at

GETTY 042814 Syria?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1398680259207iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Syria has turned over nearly all of its chemical weapons arsenal for destruction to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

On Sunday, the watchdog group demanded that President Bashar al-Assad’s government complete the agreement put forth by the United Nations last fall so that the June 30 deadline for destroying all weapons is met.

Sigrid Kaag, special coordinator with the OPCW-UN, estimates that one site in Syria holds the remaining 7.8 percent of chemical weapons.

Damascus, which has been mostly compliant during the last seven months, is expected to live up to the terms of the U.N. resolution even as new allegations have surfaced of chlorine gas being used by its military against opposition forces. The U.S. and U.N. are investigating the claims.

Meanwhile, Syria is also preparing for its presidential elections in June with six candidates now vying for Assad’s job although he’s expected to soon announce his intention to run for a third seven-year term.

Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio

SUBMIT A CORRECTION