Chemical Experts Begin Mission on Syria Disarmament

Local Editor

Nine experts tasked with implementing a UN resolution over Syria's chemical arsenal left their hotel Thursday and headed for an unknown location.

Two days after arriving in Damascus, the experts from The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons [OPCW] drove off in three UN vehicles.

The nine are part of a team of 19 experts who arrived on Tuesday to oversee the implementation of UN resolution 2118, which orders Syria's chemical weapons to be removed.

The OPCW mission is currently focusing its efforts on verifying information provided by the government on its arsenal.
The task is huge. Syria is believed to have more than 1,000 tons of sarin, mustard gas and other chemicals stored at an estimated 45 sites across the country.

The mission is the first in OPCW history to take place in a war zone. The team also said it will "soon" begin efforts to disable Syria's chemical weapons production facilities and called for the Syrian government to cooperate. It said the international experts have been "considering the health and environmental hazards" which they may have to confront.

Syria has promised to cooperate with the mission, which the U.N. Security Council approved last month.
In another move, the Security Council issued a statement Wednesday, urging the Syrian government to give aid agencies "safe and unhindered humanitarian access" to Syrians affected by the country's two-year civil war.

The non-binding statement said Syria should facilitate that access "across conflict lines, and where appropriate, across borders from neighboring countries."

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos welcomed the Council's appeal, saying it could help aid workers to provide supplies to about 2 million Syrians who have been unreachable for months. She said the international community now has the task of turning the Council's "strong words into meaningful action."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team