OPCW To Win Nobel Peace Prize Friday

Local Editor

The organization responsible for destroying stockpiles of chemical weapons in Syria is to receive this year's Nobel Peace Prize, according to the Norwegian public broadcaster.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons [OPCW] was founded in 1997 to enforce the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international treaty that bans the production, storage and use of chemical weapons.

Its main job since then has been the ongoing monitoring of the process of chemical disarmament by the treaty's signatories, particularly the US and Russia, the countries that held the largest stockpiles at the time it was signed.
The watchdog recently attracted headlines after a Russia-brokered deal with Syria, which agreed to join the convention and dismantle its chemical weapons arsenal.
The OPCW team currently working in Syria consists of 27 field experts, with the number expected to rise to roughly 100 by the time the dismantling is in full swing.

The organization said Syrian authorities are ‘quite cooperative' with them, but the inspectors may find it difficult to access the sites or their interest, which are currently located in armed groups-held areas.
Destruction of production equipment and delivery systems for the Syrian chemical weapons is underway and is expected to be completed by November. Destroying the chemicals themselves is a more labor-intensive and risky job. The best approach to the task is still under discussion.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in brokering the deal, but the application came too late to be considered this year and was pushed to 2014.
The Nobel Committee is to announce its choice of recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2013 on Friday at 09:00 GMT.

The Norwegian broadcaster NRK, which named the possible laureate, has a strong track record of reporting winners.

Last year it was correct predicting that the EU would win about an hour before the official statement.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team