...

Syria submits revised plan to ship all chemicals by April: UN

Arab World Materials 5 March 2014 03:57 (UTC +04:00)
Syria has shipped out about a third of its chemical weapons stockpile and has submitted a new plan to ship its most dangerous chemicals abroad by April, a UN spokesman said here on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.
Syria submits revised plan to ship all chemicals by April: UN

Syria has shipped out about a third of its chemical weapons stockpile and has submitted a new plan to ship its most dangerous chemicals abroad by April, a UN spokesman said here on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

"Syria has submitted to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) a revised proposal that aims to complete the removal of all chemicals from Syria before the end of next month," said Martin Nesirky, spokesperson for UN secretary-general, at a daily briefing.

"The OPCW-UN Joint Mission also verified that two more consignments of chemicals have left the port of Latakia, including a quantity of mustard gas -- a Priority 1 chemical," Nesirky said.

"Another movement, a significant consignment of other Priority 1 chemicals, is scheduled to arrive in Latakia during this week, which will bring the total number of movements so far to six," he said.

The spokesman said the six movements represent more than 35 percent of all chemicals that must be removed from Syria for destruction, including 23 percent of Priority 1 chemicals and 63 percent of Priority 2 chemicals.

"In addition, the OPCW has verified that Syria has destroyed, inside the country, more than 93 percent of its stock of isopropanol," said the spokesperson.

Sigrid Kaag, the Special Coordinator of the Joint Mission, briefed the OPCW Executive Council in The Hague on Tuesday, said Nesirky.

"She will brief the Security Council on Wednesday on Syria's chemical weapons program," Nesirky added.

Prior to initiating operations in January to remove its chemicals, Syria, in late 2013, completed the functional destruction of its chemical weapons production facilities, mixing and filling equipment, and all of its munitions that were designed for use with chemical warfare agents.

Damascus missed earlier deadlines in December and February. The UN Security Council and OPCW executive council earlier established the final deadline for the removal and elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons program as the end of June 2014.

Tags:
Latest

Latest