Syria hands over last of its chemical weapons, watchdog says
The OPCW's director general, Ahmet Uzumcu, said the final 8 percent of the 1,300-ton stockpile has been loaded onto ships at the Syrian port of Latakia and is en route for destruction at sea.
"As we speak, the ship [carrying the last chemical arms] has just left the port," Uzumcu said at a press conference at The Hague.
"Removing the stockpile of precursor and other chemicals has been a fundamental condition in the programme to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons programme," he said.
Syria had previously shipped out 92 percent of its stockpile of chemical weapons under the terms of a UN-backed deal brokered by the United States and Russia last year.
But the remaining eight percent of the stockpile remained at one site and Damascus said it was unable to transport it to the port of Latakia because of security concerns.
"We hope to conclude soon the clarification of certain aspects of the Syrian declaration and commence the destruction of certain structures that were used as chemical weapons production facilities," Uzumcu said.
Under last year's agreement Syria had until the end of June for the destruction of its chemical weapons, but it has been widely acknowledged that the deadline would not be met.
The deal was reached after a sarin nerve gas attack in a rebel-held Damascus suburb on August 21, 2013, killed around 1,400 people. Damascus agreed to hand over its chemical arsenal after the US threatened airstrikes against President Bashar al-Assad's regime in response.
A Danish ship is now set to take the chemicals to the Cape Ray US ship for destruction at sea while some of the chemicals are to be destroyed at sites in Finland, the US and Britain.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
