Syria Has Met First Chemical Weapons Destruction Deadline, OPCW Says
Syria has destroyed all its declared chemical weapons mixing, filling and production facilities, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Thursday. The watchdog body’s announcement means that the first deadline has been met in an ambitious program to eliminate the country’s entire chemical weapons stockpile by the middle of next year. The joint United Nations-OPCW mission visited 21 out of 23 sites, the OPCW statement said, and 39 of the 41 facilities at those sites.
The remaining two sites were too dangerous for the inspectors to go to, it said, but Syria had declared those sites as abandoned. The chemical weapons equipment there was moved to other sites, which were inspected. The OPCW said it was “now satisfied that it has verified — and seen destroyed — all of Syria’s declared critical production and mixing/filling equipment.” The next milestone for the mission will be November 15, it said, when the body’s executive council must approve a detailed plan submitted by Syria for the destruction of its chemical weapons stockpile.
More here: http://us.cnn.com/2013/10/31/world/meast/syria-chemical-weapons-opcw/index.html?sr=sharebar_twitter
Discovered on the Obamadiary