First shipment of chemicals leaves Syria: OPCW
Iran Press TV
Tue Jan 7, 2014 5:1PM GMT
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) says it has started shipping Syrian chemical weapon materials out of country.
In a statement, the OPCW said the materials were transported from two sites to the port city of Latakia for verification and then loaded onto a Danish vessel on Tuesday, which headed for international waters.
'The vessel has been accompanied by naval escorts provided by Denmark and Norway, as well as the Syrian Arab Republic,' said the statement.
It noted that the ship will remain at sea "awaiting the arrival of additional priority chemical materials at the port,' while maritime security is being provided by naval escorts from China, Denmark, Norway and Russia.
The movement marks the start of the process that will see the transfer of chemical materials from Syria to locations outside its territory for destruction.
The removal was originally scheduled to take place before December 31, 2013 but was delayed due to rampant violence, logistical problems and poor weather conditions.
The chemicals are due to be taken from Latakia to a port in Italy where they will be transferred to a US Navy vessel fitted with equipment to destroy them at sea.
Last September, the UN Security Council approved a resolution supporting a Russia-US deal to destroy Syria's chemical weapons by mid-2014.
The deal was reached after Moscow offered Syria to place its chemical weapons arsenal under international supervision for destruction to prevent a US military strike on Syria.
The move came after Washington stepped up its war rhetoric against Syria under the baseless pretext that the Syrian government had been behind a fatal chemical attack on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21, 2013.
Damascus however has strongly rejected the allegation.
MRS/PR
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
