Google – AFP, 22 October 2013
 |
Sigrid
Kaag, newly appointed Special Coordinator of the joint mission of the OPCW
and the United Nations, speaks to the press in Damascus on October 22, 2013 (AFP) |
Damascus —
Syria has so far "fully cooperated" in destroying its massive
chemical arsenal, the chief of the joint Organisation for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons and United Nations mission said Monday.
"To
date, the government of Syria has fully cooperated in supporting the work of
the advance team and the OPCW-UN joint mission," said mission chief Sigrid
Kaag in Damascus.
Kaag said
that "by joining the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Syrian government
has indicated its commitment to the task" of destroying it arsenal.
A team of
UN-OPCW inspectors arrived in Syria on October 1 to oversee the implementation
of UN Security Council 2118, which orders the destruction of Syria's chemical
weapons and production facilities by mid-2014.
"The
timeframes are challenging given the goal of the elimination of Syria's
chemical weapons programme in the first half of 2014," Kaag said in a
statement.
She said
the team had "had very good meetings with the highest levels of the Syrian
government".
"There
is constant, close cooperation," said Kaag, describing the destruction of
the chemical arsenal as "one common goal".
The
Security Council passed its resolution after hundreds of people were killed in
sarin gas attacks on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21.
The United
States threatened military strikes, but then reached a deal with key Damascus
backer Russia which became the basis for Resolution 2118.
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