NETHERLANDS: Chemical weapons watchdog verifies previously inaccessible Syrian site
Record ID:
858254
NETHERLANDS: Chemical weapons watchdog verifies previously inaccessible Syrian site
- Title: NETHERLANDS: Chemical weapons watchdog verifies previously inaccessible Syrian site
- Date: 7th November 2013
- Summary: THE HAGUE ,THE NETHERLANDS (NOVEMBER 6, 2013) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THE ORGANISATION FOR THE PROHIBITION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS (OPCW) SIGN FOR OPCW AT THE ENTRANCE PEOPLE COMING OUT OF OPCW BUILDING OPCW SPOKESMAN CHRISTIAN CHARTIER ON CAMERA SCREEN (SOUNDBITE) (English) OPCW SPOKESMAN CHRISTIAN CHARTIER SAYING: "Today I can confirm that the OPCW United Nations mission in Syria has completely verified one of two sites which we had been unable to access for security reasons. Completely means two things: we knew already that equipment once stored in this site had been removed and that nothing of this equipment had been unaccounted for. We completed this process by ensuring today that the building is indeed abandoned and empty." EXTERIOR OF THE OPCW BUILDING
- Embargoed: 22nd November 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Netherlands
- City:
- Country: Netherlands
- Topics: Conflict
- Reuters ID: LVACEOK2WE9P2PMCM564JTW369BU
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Global chemical weapons watchdog inspectors using footage from sealed cameras have verified one of two remaining sites declared by Syria, the spokesman of the organisation told Reuters on Thursday (November 7).
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is charged with overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, had already verified 21 out of 23 sites declared to the agency last month.
Two sites were considered too dangerous to reach.
"Today I can confirm that the OPCW United Nations mission in Syria has completely verified one of two sites which we had been unable to access for security reasons. Completely means two things: we knew already that equipment once stored in this site had been removed and that nothing of this equipment had been unaccounted for. We completed this process by ensuring today that the building is indeed abandoned and empty," OPCW spokesman Christian Chartier said.
An OPCW document said the additional site inspected is in the region of Aleppo and was confirmed as dismantled and long abandoned with the building showing extensive battle damage.
Syria has proposed destroying its stockpile outside the country because of ongoing fighting. More than 100,000 people have been killed and some 2.2 million people have fled during the 2-1/2-year civil war.
The progress comes after the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, suggested on Tuesday that the government of President Bashar al-Assad may not have disclosed its entire chemical weapons programme to the OPCW.
Under a Russian-American brokered deal, Syria agreed to destroy its entire stockpile of toxic nerve agents and munitions by mid-2014.
Syria declared 30 production, filling and storage facilities, eight mobile filling units and three chemical weapons-related facilities. They contained about 1,000 tonnes of chemical weapons, mostly in the form of raw precursors, 290 tonnes of loaded munitions and 1,230 unfilled munitions.
A Syrian delegation is at the headquarters of the OPCW this week to work out where and how to destroy roughly 1,000 tonnes of weapons declared, a job they said they cannot do without significant foreign financing and support. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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