Syria has met the deadline to complete the destruction of chemical weapons production and mixing/filling equipment no later than November 1, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) stated. President Bashar Al Assad’s regime was under pressure due to its attack with chemical gases against civilians which stirred an outcry in the international arena. The US moved to attack the Syrian regime but stepped back once Russia presented a plan to place the regime’s chemical stockpile under international control. With approval from the US and Syrian regime, a team of experts travelled to Syria to oversee the stockpile's destruction.
With the complete of destruction of production facilities, a team returned back to The Hague where OPCW headquarters are located. OPCW Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu welcomed back the eight inspectors who arrived in Damascus on October 1 with the Advanced Team, and have been conducting verification work on the ground ever since.
“On behalf of the OPCW, I thank you and all of our colleagues from the Joint OPCW-UN Mission who remain in Syria for your outstanding service,” the Director-General said. “I salute the fortitude and courage you’ve all demonstrated in fulfilling the most challenging mission ever undertaken by this organisation.”
The Joint OPCW-UN Mission has inspected 21 of the 23 sites declared by Syria, and 39 of the 41 facilities located at those sites. The two remaining sites were not visited due to safety and security concerns. But Syria declared those sites as abandoned, noting that the chemical weapons programme items they contained were moved to other declared sites, which were inspected.
The Joint Mission is now satisfied that it has verified - and seen the destruction of - all of Syria’s declared critical production and mixing/filling equipment. Given the Joint OPCW-UN Mission's progress in meeting the requirements of the first phase of activities, no further inspection activities are currently planned. The next milestone for the mission will be November 15, by which time the Executive Council must approve a detailed plan submitted by Syria on the destruction its chemical weapons stockpile.
Meanwhile, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has claimed it gained control of Daraa, a southern Syrian city. Daraa Media Representative, Muhammed Masalmeh, told an AA correspondent, “A large portion of the city is under FSA’s control. The opposition has inflicted a heavy blow to the regime army.” He also requested medical equipment for field hospitals since a regime warplane bombarded the area.
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