Syria’s Declared Chemical Arms Destroyed: OPCW

Local Editor

All of Syria's declared chemical arms production equipment has been destroyed ahead of a key Friday deadline, The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said.

The international chemical weapons watchdog made the statement in a document obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

According to the document, Syria has completed the destruction of equipment for producing chemical arms, meeting a deadline set for its disarmament program.
"The OPCW is satisfied it has verified, and seen destroyed, all declared critical production/mixing/filling equipment from all 23 sites," the document said.

A team of experts from the Hague-based OPCW and the UN is in Syria to implement a UN resolution on scrapping the Syrian chemical arsenal. The United Nations Security Council approved the resolution on September 27.
The team had until November 1 to inspect the chemical weapons arsenal declared by the Syrian government and keep a tab on the destruction of the related facilities.

The OPCW also said in a statement issued on Sunday that Syria had submitted a detailed plan to destroy its chemical weapons arsenal.

It provided "the basis on which plans are devised for a systematic, total and verified destruction of declared chemical weapons and production facilities," the organization said.

Source: Reuters