Almost half of Syria's chemical weapons removed - OPCW

 

The Syrian government says shipments from Latakia have been delayed by security and logistical issues

Almost half of Syria's declared stockpile of chemical weapons has now been removed, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says.

Two additional consignments of the most dangerous chemicals were loaded on to cargo vessels at Latakia over the past week, according to an OPCW statement.
A total of 10 consignments have been shipped, including all of Syria's sulphur mustard, a blister agent.
The OPCW aims to destroy or remove the country's entire arsenal by 30 June.
The Syrian government approved the initiative last year after a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus left hundreds of people dead.

Revised schedule The OPCW said the two most recent consignments were delivered to Nordic cargo vessels docked at the Mediterranean port of Latakia on 14 and 17 March. They included both "Priority 1" chemicals and less hazardous "Priority 2" chemicals.
The 10 consignments represent 45.6% of all the chemicals that must be removed from Syria for destruction, including 29.5% of Priority 1 chemicals and 82.6% of Priority 2 chemicals.
The OPCW said all stocks of sulphur mustard had now been removed.
Sulphur mustard is a "unitary" agent that is stored in a form that can be deployed immediately. In contrast, Syria's nerve agent sarin is thought to be stored in a "binary" manner, meaning it is kept as two distinct chemical precursors that are combined just before use.
Although the OPCW-UN Joint Mission said earlier this month that "good progress" is being made in the removal of the chemical stockpile even though the Syrian government has missed a series of deadlines.
The removal of Priority 1 chemicals was initially due by 31 December, while the deadline for the shipment of Priority 2 material was 5 February.
The Syrian government, which says the shipments have been delayed by security and logistical issues, has presented a revised schedule that aims to have them completed by 27 April.