Syria chemical handover nearly complete

The Hague: Syria has nearly completed surrendering its chemical weapons stockpile, a joint task force in charge of the operation said today, as United Nations (UN) Security Council members called for a fresh probe into alleged gas attacks. "Today`s operation brings the total of chemical material removed and destroyed to 92.5 per cent," the combined Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-UN task team said in a statement.

Damascus had pledged to have all of its stockpile removed from the war-ravaged country by Sunday. The weapons are then due to be destroyed by June 30. The consignment of chemicals were delivered to the main Syrian port of Latakia, from where it will be removed by cargo ships for delivery to the US Navy vessel Cape Ray for destruction. Syrian authorities also "destroyed buildings, equipment and empty mustard gas containers", the OPCW-UN statement said. "A majority of (storage and productions) sites are now closed," the joint mission said. "I welcome the significant progress of the last three weeks and I strongly encourage the Syrian authorities to conclude removal operations as part of their efforts to achieve the June 30 deadline," the mission`s chief Sigrid Kaag said. France and the United States allege that President Bashar al-Assad`s forces may have unleashed industrial chemicals on a rebel-held village in central Hama province earlier this month. Activists have also reported other chlorine gas attacks, most recently in Idlib province, in the northwest, on Monday. Damascus has denied any part in the attacks. Under the terms of a US-Russian brokered deal which averted the threat of US military action last year, Syria agreed to destroy its chemical stockpiles. As Syria, which in the past has missed several deadlines according to the deal nears completing the handover, several issues however remain on the table, analysts and diplomats said. It is unclear whether Syria itself will make Sunday`s deadline, sources said. The last of the chemical stockpile remains near Damascus and cannot be accessed for security reasons, a source close to the OPCW said. "They will complete the removal, but the question of production sites is still there," added chemical weapons analyst Sico van der Meer of the Clingendael Institute.