Syria chemical deadline over, 8% of arsenal remains - OPCW
27 April 2014, 13:15 -- Syria still holds nearly 8 percent of its chemical weapons arsenal as the deadline expired Sunday for it to be handed over, the task force charged with the operation said.
'We are talking of the remaining 7.8 percent chemical weapon material that is currently still in country in one particular site,' Sigrid Kaag, head of the combined Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-UN task team, said, AFP reports.
Damascus needs to 'acquit itself of its commitments', Kaag said, adding that there has been 'very constructive cooperation.'
'We also however need to... ensure the remaining 7.5-8.0 percent of the chemical weapons material is also removed and destroyed.'
Of that amount, 6.5 percent would be removed from Syria, she said.
'A small percentage is to be destroyed, regardless, in-country. That can be done. It's a matter of accessing the site,' she added.
Kaag, speaking at a press conference in Damascus, praised the 'very constructive cooperation' of the Syrian government under difficult security circumstances.
'We are mindful that security has many faces and can be very challenging. However, as a state party (to the Chemical Weapons Convention), Syria also needs to acquit itself of its commitments,' she said.
Under a US-Russian deal negotiated last year, Syria signed up to the Chemical Weapons Convention and agreed to hand over its entire chemical weapons arsenal.
Lavrov, Kerry state 92 percent of chemicals removed from Syria
In a telephone conversation on Saturday, April 26, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry stated that 92% of chemical material had been removed from Syria up to date. The Joint Mission of the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has confirmed delivery of a further shipment of chemical weapons material, which has brought the total of chemical material removed and destroyed in country to 92.5%
'I welcome the significant progress of the last three weeks, and I strongly encourage the Syrian authorities to conclude the removal operations as part of their efforts to achieve the 30 June 2014 deadline. Particular thanks goes to Member States for their steadfast support,' UN/OPCW Joint Mission Special Coordinator Sigrid Kaag.
In addition to the removal operations, the Syrian authorities have destroyed buildings, equipment and empty mustard gas containers, and decontaminated other containers in a number of chemical weapons storage and production sites. A majority of these sites are now closed.
Kaag said on April 22 that the removal of chemicals from Syria would be completed within the next few days. This will contribute to meeting the deadlines set by the OPCW Executive Council, including the June 30, 2014 target date for completing the destruction of Syria's entire chemical weapons programme.
'The renewed pace in movements is positive and necessary to ensure progress towards a tight deadline,' she said.
According to the OPCW, no chemical weapons will be left in Syria by April 27. They will be destroyed by Britain, Germany, the United States, and Finland.
When all of the Syrian chemicals from all storage sites have been loaded aboard the Danish and Norwegian cargo ships, they will be transported to various locations for destruction under the verification of OPCW inspectors.
The majority of Priority 1 chemicals will be neutralised at sea aboard the U.S. vessel MV Cape Ray, while a smaller amount will be neutralised at a land-based facility in Ellesmere Port, UK. The Priority 2 chemicals will be destroyed at commercial facilities in the U.S. and Finland. A facility in Germany will dispose of part of the effluent from the Cape Ray operations, the OPCW said.
The Syrian Government informed the Joint Mission of a revised plan for removing all relevant chemicals from its territory by April 27. The amended plan was considered by the OPCW Executive Council in The Hague in early March 7. Western countries were concerned that the delays would not allow Syria to destroy all of its chemical weapons by June 30, 2014 as was initially planned and it will need a delay of several months.
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