Second chemical shipment removed from Syria - UN
27 January 2014, 20:26
A second shipment of chemical weapons material has been removed from Syria under a deal to eliminate its arsenal, the joint UN mission overseeing the disarmament said Monday.
'Today, a further shipment of chemical weapons materials took place from the Syrian Arab Republic,' the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a statement.
'The chemical materials were verified by Joint Mission personnel before being loaded in Lattakia port onto Danish and Norwegian cargo vessels for onward transportation.'
An earlier shipment was removed on January 7.
The UN Security Council last year backed a US-Russian deal to eliminate Syria's vast chemical arsenal as a way to avert US strikes threatened after a massive chemical attack near Damascus that Washington blamed on the regime.
Under the agreement, Syria's entire chemical arsenal is to be eliminated by June 30.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been battling rebels for nearly three years, following his government's brutal crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising that began in March 2011.
Second batch of Syria chemical arsenal sent to Latakia - media
Second batch of Syria chemical arsenal sent today from Damascus to Latakia for subsequent export from the country. Containers will be shipped on two cargo ship provided by Denmark and Norway.
The operation is performed under conditions of increased security measures, reports channel Al-Mayadin.
The first batch of Syrian chemical weapons was delivered to the marine port of Latakia on January 7.
Under the plan, the chemicals will 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.
Chemical weapons should be withdrawn from Syria till February 5, 2014. The most dangerous agents will be eliminated outside Syria not later than March 31, 2014. The others will be eliminated by June 30, 2014.
Naval ships from Russia and China will take part in the operation to transport the most hazardous components of chemical weapons from Syria
First batch of Syrian chemical weapons delivered to Latakia to be loaded on Danish and Norwegian ships
Today, the first batch of Syrian chemical weapons was delivered to the marine port of Latakia, the Al-Mayadeen TV channel reports. The containers will be shipped on two dry-cargo vessels provided by Denmark and Norway.The two dry cargo ships and two guard ships left for the Syrian coast three days ago from a Cypriot port of Limassol.
The Russian cruiser Petr Velikiy and the Chinese frigate Yancheng will join the sea convoy with chemical materials, which is to lay a course for one of the Italian ports in a few weeks.
In addition, Russia has provided heavy-lift trucks for transporting the toxic substances along the highway from Damascus to Latakia. According to special coordinator of the joint mission of the OPCW and the UN Sigrid Kaag, "a slight delay will not interfere with the operation planned by the international community."
Danish-Norwegian ships leave Limassol port for Syrian seacoast
Two Danish and two Norwegian ships have left the Port of Limassol and made the way towards international waters near the Syrian seacoast. Two dry-cargo ships and two coastguard vessels will be in international waters to enter the Syrian port of Latakia at any moment in order to load containers with chemical weapons, Norwegian Defence Ministry spokesman Lars Magne Hovtun said on Friday.
Russian and Chinese military ships - the Pyotr Veliky heavy nuclear missile cruiser and China's Yan Cheng will ensure security while containers are transported to one of the Italian ports where they will be reloaded to the US Cape Ray for further elimination.
Head of the OPCW-UN Joint Mission Sigrid Kaag said a certain delay did not prevent the international community from conducting the operation.
Scandinavian ships set sail for Syria to move out chemical weapons
Danish and Norwegian vessels left the Cypriot port of Limassol on Friday and made for Syria to escort a delayed shipment of chemical weapons for destruction, a spokesman said.
'The Norwegian-Danish task group to transport Syria's chemical agents to destruction left the port of Limassol this morning,' said Norwegian armed forces spokesman Lars Magne Hovtun.
'The four ships have now set course toward a holding area in international water outside Syria, so we are most ready to enter the port of Latakia when the order arrives,' he added.
The ships are to be joined by Chinese and Russian vessels inside Syrian waters under a plan agreed in Moscow on Friday.The removal had been scheduled to take place before December 31, but the deadline passed and a new one has not yet been set.
The year-end deadline for the removal of key weapons components was the first major milestone under a UN Security Council-backed deal arranged by Russia and the United States that aims to eliminate all of Syria's chemical arms by the middle of this year.
Syria's worsening civil war, logistical problems and bad weather held up the operation to move chemical agents to the port of Latakia, said the joint UN-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons mission overseeing the operation.
Cruiser Pyotr Veliky to ensure security of operation to remove chemical weapons from Syria
Naval ships from Russia and China will take part in the operation to transport the most hazardous components of chemical weapons from Syria, Eystein Kvarving said Thursday. Kvarving is a spokesman for the command of the flotilla of two dry cargo ships and two frigates, provided by Denmark and Norway for the operation. Those ships, according to the original plan of the UN-OPCW joint mission were to take up the accomplishment of this task.
Kvarving said the naval ships of Russia and China 'will additionally assure the security during the transportation of containers with chemical agents from the port of Latakia in Syria to one of Italian ports for reloading into an American ship for a subsequent destruction. From the Russian side, the heavy nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great) is participating in the operation, Kvarving said. On Thursday, the Foreign Ministry of the People's Republic of China reported that the Chinese naval ship Yancheng was on its way to Cyprus.
Kvarving emphasized that the Russian and Chinese ships would not be under Danish-Norwegian command but would coordinate their actions with it.
Voice of Russia, Interfax, TASS
Source: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_01_27/Second- chemical-shipment-removed-from-Syria-UN-8276/
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