Third shipment of chemical weapons leaves Syria...

The third shipment of Syrian chemical weapons has taken place, the Reuters news agency reports on Monday citing an OPCW statement.

The Dutch and Norwegian vessels Ark Futura and Taiko have been taking away the Syrian chemical arsenal from the port of Latakia since January 7. Two consignments were already completed.

According to an initial plan, the toxic cargo had to be removed from Syria before December 31, 2013, but due to the unstable situation in the country, it didn’t happen.

In line with the OPCW schedule, around 20,000 tons of toxic mustard gas have to be taken away until March 31, 2014, and the entire chemical arsenal has to be destroyed by the end of 2014.
 http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_02_10/Third-shipment-of-chemical-weapons-taken-away-from-Syria-7650/
10/2/14
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Related:

• Απάντηση ΥΦΥΠΕΞ Δ. Κούρκουλα σε Επίκαιρη Ερώτηση για Καταστροφή Χημικού Οπλοστασίου Συρίας. -Ελληνικό ΥΠΕΞ

•  US-Spezialschiff zur Vernichtung syrischer C-Waffen kommende Woche im Mittelmeer erwartet...

• ΥΠΕΞ: Συνέχιση διπλωματικών πρωτοβουλιών Αντιπροέδρου της Κυβέρνησης και ΥΠΕΞ Ευ. Βενιζέλου για την προστασία της Μεσογείου από τη διαδικασία καταστροφής του χημικού οπλοστασίου της Συρίας.

• ΥΠΕΞ: Ανακοίνωση Υπουργείου Εξωτερικών για το ζήτημα της καταστροφής των χημικών όπλων του συριακού οπλοστασίου

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• Chemical waste worries Cretans. -Syrian chemical weapons arsenal to be destroyed in Mediterranean waters

Chemical waste worries Cretans. -Syrian chemical weapons arsenal to be destroyed in Mediterranean waters

Maja Jovic

The World Council of Cretans last week expressed its opposition and outrage to the proposed and 'secretly planned' destruction of chemical weapons from Syria in the Mediterranean sea areas west of Crete.
The response comes as the internationally praised August deal between the USA and Russia, to destroy the Syrian chemical arsenal, failed. The chemicals were meant to be transferred outside Syria by the end of December 2013 and destroyed by June 2014.
With the December deadline already missed, discussions now suggest the possibility of chemical waste being dumped in the Mediterranean, in an area between Crete, Malta and Libya. This scenario is becoming likelier since Italy has promised to offer a port for the two Danish and Norwegian ships which will transport the lethal chemical weapons.

The president of the World Council of Cretans, Tony Tsourdalakis, told Neos Kosmos that the council condemns this decision that could have a catastrophic impact on the island.
"We condemn the decision of the respective government to dump the Syrian chemicals to the South of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea. This is a catastrophic decision of huge proportions, that will not only harm sea life, but will possibly cause health and contamination issues. Most importantly, it will deter tourists from the south coastal beaches of Crete, putting a large dint in the Greek tourist industry," he told Neos Kosmos.

Mr Tsourdalakis said the council believed that responsibility for the preservation and destruction of the chemical weapons lies with the countries of production that supplied the weapons to Syria.
"Certainly this was not Greece. The World Council of Cretans - and in particular the 500 Cretan organisations globally and one million Cretans in and out of Crete - express their utmost concerns and condemn these actions. We urge the Greek government, via its role in the United Nations and in light of the fact that it has the European presidency, to request that this dangerous, criminal and unacceptable action ceases immediately."
"We unite our voice with the voice of all Greeks to stop this crime that will certainly affect the health of nearby countries and even more Greece," he said.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has estimated that about 1,300 tons of chemical weapons, most of which are mustard gas based, will be destroyed via hydrolysis.
In the light of concerns over the environmental and health impact of the planned destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal in international waters west of Chania, intense concerns and opposition were expressed by the Medical Association of Chania.

"The procedure to be followed has not been elucidated completely and could possibly pose serious risks to the ecosystem of the region and the bordering regions, such as Chania. In particular, the reported hydrolysis process is not sufficient for complete inactivation of the derivatives of the quantities of chemical weapons of Syria to be destroyed," it was said in the statement.
The Medical Association of Chania urged the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Use of Chemical Weapons, the two organisations responsible for the destruction process of those chemicals, to adjust their schedules and to provide ultimate safety in the areas of chemical processing.
 http://neoskosmos.com/news/en/chemical-waste-worries-cretans
24/1/14
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Related:
 

• Massive protests in Italy due to arrival of toxic cargo from Syria 

• ΥΠΕΞ: Ανακοίνωση Υπουργείου Εξωτερικών για το ζήτημα της καταστροφής των χημικών όπλων του συριακού οπλοστασίου

• Italian mayors want guarantees on Syrian chemical transfer

• First chemical materials removed from Syria by ship

• Danish, Norwegian ships leave Limassol port for Syrian seacoast

• Nordic ships on call for Syria chemical shipment...

• Vessels for Syrian Chemical Arms Removal Dock in Cyprus

• OPCW Executive Council adopts plan for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme in the first half of 2014

Massive protests in Italy due to arrival of toxic cargo from Syria

MV Cape Ray

Widespread protests have started in the south of Italy due to the upcoming shipment of a toxic cargo expected to arrive by sea from Syria in 10 days.

Local residents got angry with the situation as, according to them, secrecy surrounds the whole operation and no guarantees were given by the government.

"They are telling us that the material carried is not dangerous, but in fact nobody knows what is inside those containers," said one of the protesters.


The Mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, has threatened to close the port and called for another massive protest on February 1.

An estimated 60 containers with Syria's deadliest chemicals, including mustard gas and the ingredients for the nerve agents sarin, are due to be moved from a Danish ship to a US vessel using rolling cranes without "stocking on land", according to Italian transport Minister Mario Lupi's assurances.

However, when the port was chosen as a site of a transfer of Syrian chemical weapons, Mayor Renato Belfiore announced that he and the locals would "oppose this move by all legal means".

"They are putting my life at risk. If anything happens, people will come and get me with pitchforks," he said back then.

Earlier this month, a Danish cargo ship, the Ark Futura, took a first cargo of materials from Latakia and is now back in international waters, awaiting a return to pick up the remainder.

In Italy, the chemicals will be transferred onto the US ship MV Cape Ray, which will dispose of them at sea over a period of up to three months.

The entire Syrian chemical arsenal is expected to be decommissioned by June 30 in line with the UN plan.

UN Security Council resolution 2118 was approved after a massive chemical weapon attack that killed hundreds of people near Damascus in last August.

Voice of Russia, AFP, Euronews
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_01_25/Massive-protests-in-Italy-due-to-arrival-of-toxic-cargo-from-Syria-5608/
25/1/14
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Related:
 

• ΥΠΕΞ: Ανακοίνωση Υπουργείου Εξωτερικών για το ζήτημα της καταστροφής των χημικών όπλων του συριακού οπλοστασίου

• Italian mayors want guarantees on Syrian chemical transfer

• First chemical materials removed from Syria by ship

• Danish, Norwegian ships leave Limassol port for Syrian seacoast

• Nordic ships on call for Syria chemical shipment...

• Vessels for Syrian Chemical Arms Removal Dock in Cyprus

• OPCW Executive Council adopts plan for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme in the first half of 2014

Italian mayors want guarantees on Syrian chemical transfer

ROME - Mayors of Italian towns near the port designated as a transit site for Syria's chemical arsenal said on Friday they would protest at the decision unless they were guaranteed maximum security against any environmental or health risk.
"We want to make sure safety measures are at the maximum level and we want the government to better inform us so we can reassure our residents. If we are not better informed, then there will be protests," said Rosarno Mayor Elisabetta Tripodi.


The chemicals are being sent to Italy under an accord brokered by Russia and the United States after poison gas attacks in Syria's civil war in August that killed hundreds of people. The nerve gas agents are to be later destroyed at sea.
The Italian government has chosen Gioia Tauro, the country's biggest container port located in the southern region of Calabria, to move 560 tons of Syria's "priority A" chemicals from a Danish ship to an American one.
 jpost.com
17/1/14
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Related:

• First chemical materials removed from Syria by ship

• Danish, Norwegian ships leave Limassol port for Syrian seacoast

• Nordic ships on call for Syria chemical shipment...

• Vessels for Syrian Chemical Arms Removal Dock in Cyprus

• OPCW Executive Council adopts plan for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme in the first half of 2014

• 

  MV Cape Ray

  United States offers to destroy Syria’s Priority Chemicals./Σε πλοίο των ΗΠΑ θα καταστραφουν κάποια χημικά

First chemical materials removed from Syria by ship

DAMASCUS: A first shipment of material has been removed from Syria under a deal to rid the country of its chemical weapons arsenal, the joint mission overseeing the disarmament said Tuesday.

"A first quantity of priority chemical materials was moved from two sites to the port of Latakia for verification and was then loaded onto a Danish commercial vessel today," the mission said in a statement.

It added that the boat had sailed for international waters.

"This movement initiates the process of transfer of chemical materials from the Syrian Arab Republic to locations outside its territory for destruction," the statement said.

Maritime security is being provided by naval escorts from China, Denmark, Norway and Russia, it added.

The removal had been scheduled to take place before December 31, but Syria's worsening civil war, logistical problems and bad weather had delayed the operation.

The year-end deadline for the removal of key weapons components was the first major milestone under a UN Security Council-backed deal arranged by Russia and the United States that aims to eliminate all of Syria's chemical arms by the middle of this year.

Under the plan, the chemicals will be taken from Latakia to a port in Italy where they will be transferred to a US Navy vessel fitted with equipment to destroy them at sea.

- AFP/xq
channelnewsasia.com
7/1/14
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Related:

• Danish, Norwegian ships leave Limassol port for Syrian seacoast

• Nordic ships on call for Syria chemical shipment...

• Vessels for Syrian Chemical Arms Removal Dock in Cyprus

• OPCW Executive Council adopts plan for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme in the first half of 2014

• 

  MV Cape Ray

  United States offers to destroy Syria’s Priority Chemicals./Σε πλοίο των ΗΠΑ θα καταστραφουν κάποια χημικά

 

Danish, Norwegian ships leave Limassol port for Syrian seacoast

BEIRUT, January 03, /ITAR-TASS/. Two Danish and two Norwegian ships have left the Port of Limassol and made the way towards international waters near the Syrian seacoast.

Two dry-cargo ships and two coastguard vessels will be in international waters to enter the Syrian port of Latakia at any moment in order to load containers with chemical weapons, Norwegian Defence Ministry spokesman Lars Magne Hovtun said on Friday.
Russian and Chinese military ships - the Pyotr Veliky heavy nuclear missile cruiser and China’s Yan Cheng will ensure security while containers are transported to one of the Italian ports where they will be reloaded to the U.S. Cape Ray for further elimination.

Head of the OPCW-U.N. Joint Mission Sigrid Kaag said a certain delay did not prevent the international community from conducting the operation.

Chemical weapons should be withdrawn from Syria till February 5, 2014. The most dangerous agents will be eliminated outside Syria not later than March 31, 2014. The others will be eliminated by June 30, 2014.

itar-tass.com

3/1/14

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Related:

• Nordic ships on call for Syria chemical shipment...

• Vessels for Syrian Chemical Arms Removal Dock in Cyprus

• OPCW Executive Council adopts plan for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme in the first half of 2014

• United States offers to destroy Syria’s Priority Chemicals./Σε πλοίο των ΗΠΑ θα καταστραφουν κάποια χημικά

Syria signs offshore oil deal with Russian firm...

Syria’s government said Wednesday it had signed an oil and gas deal with a Russian company, prompting claims from the Syrian opposition that Damascus is “swapping the country’s riches for Russian weapons”.

The agreement was signed by Syrian Oil Minister Suleiman Abbas and the Russian Soyuzneftegaz company, allows for the first-ever exploration off the war-ravaged country’s Mediterranean coast.

The exploration will cover an area of 2,190 square kilometres (850 square miles) off the Mediterranean port city of Tartous, where Russia also has a military base.

Damascus said the exploration would be financed by Russia to the tune of $100 million over the next 25 years.

Blighted industry

The deal is a boost for the Syrian government, which has lost control over roughly half of the country’s territory, including most of its oil fields.

Through war and sanctions, Syria's oil production has plummeted by 90 percent since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011.

“Soyuzneftegaz will start working soon after the contract is signed. The company will not follow the unfair economic sanctions imposed on oil fields especially, as well as on all economic sectors in Syria,” Syria’s Oil Minister Suleiman Abbas told reporters.

‘Oil for weapons’

• The agreement between Moscow and Damascus was swiftly denounced by Syria’s main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition (SNC).

In a statement published on Thursday, the CNS slammed a deal “which aims to swap the riches of our homeland for Russian weapons destined to kill the Syrian people”. Despite the escalating violence in Syria, Moscow has continued to supply weapons to its Syrian ally and repeatedly thwarted attempts to take action against the Assad regime at the UN Security Council.
france24.com
26/12/13
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Vessels for Syrian Chemical Arms Removal Dock in Cyprus

MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti) – Danish and Swedish ships that will be used to ferry away Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal have docked in Cyprus on their way to the civil war-wracked Mideast nation.
Cypriot ambassador to Russia, George Kasoulides, said Monday that the weapons will be transferred from those ships onto a US vessel and destroyed at sea.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in November finalized a roadmap for destroying Syria’s arsenal more than 1,000 metric tons of weapons-grade chemicals. According to the roadmap, the most dangerous weapons have to be removed from Syria by the end of December and destroyed at sea by April. The rest is slated for destruction by mid-2014.

The disarmament process was launched after an August 21 chemical weapons attack on a Damascus suburb that killed hundreds of civilians. The US and Western allies accused the Syrian government of responsibility for that attack, but Damascus blamed rebel groups fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad.
Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said Friday that the United States had identified a country prepared to provide a port for transshipment of Syrian chemical weapons onto an US vessel but provided no specific details.
 http://en.ria.ru/world/20131216/185618272/Vessels-for-Syrian-Chemical-Arms-Removal-Dock-in-Cyprus.html
16/12/13
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Related:

• OPCW Executive Council adopts plan for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme in the first half of 2014

• United States offers to destroy Syria’s Priority Chemicals./Σε πλοίο των ΗΠΑ θα καταστραφουν κάποια χημικά

  

  MV Cape Ray

   

United States offers to destroy Syria’s Priority Chemicals./Σε πλοίο των ΗΠΑ θα καταστραφουν κάποια χημικά

OPCW receives expressions of interest from 35 private companies to destroy other Syrian chemicals

In a statement to the OPCW Executive Council on Friday 29 November 2013, Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü announced that the United States has offered to contribute a destruction technology, full operational support and financing to neutralise Syria’s priority chemicals, which are to be removed from the country by 31 December.

The Director-General stated that the neutralisation operations will be conducted on a U.S. vessel at sea using hydrolysis. Currently a suitable naval vessel is undergoing modifications to support the operations and to accommodate verification activities by the OPCW.

Regarding the destruction of Syria’s inventory of other chemicals, including common industrial ones - which constitute a significant part of Syria’s declaration - the Director-General said the OPCW has to date received 35 expressions of interest (EOI) from commercial companies, which will now undergo evaluation. This number may change during the tender process, he noted, stressing that the OPCW “is at the preliminary stage of ascertaining the availability of suitable candidate companies.”

The companies bidding for participation in the disposal process will be required to comply with all applicable international and national regulations pertaining to safety and the environment.

With the regard to the special Trust Fund which the OPCW has established for the destruction activities to be done by private companies, the Director-General encouraged States Parties to make their contributions.

”Before we can launch any tender process we must be certain that we have sufficient funds available to meet the costs of destruction,” the Director-General stated. He invited Member States to also consider providing in-kind contributions by contracting companies to conduct destruction activities.
https://www.opcw.org/news/article/united-states-offers-to-destroy-syrias-priority-chemicals/
30/11/13
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• OPCW Executive Council adopts plan for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme in the first half of 2014

• Τοξική Βόμβα στη Μεσόγειο τα Χημικά της Συρίας.

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 Ένα τμήμα του χημικού οπλοστασίου της Συρίας, ιδιαιτέρως χημικές ουσίες που η εξουδετέρωσή τους κρίνεται ότι συνιστά "προτεραιότητα", θα καταστραφεί στη θάλασσα πάνω σε ένα πλοίο που ανήκει στις ΗΠΑ, ανακοίνωσε σήμερα ο Οργανισμός για την Απαγόρευση των Χημικών Όπλων (ΟΑΧΟ). Οι ΗΠΑ προσφέρθηκαν για την καταστροφή μέρους του χημικού οπλοστασίου της Συρίας πάνω σε ένα αμερικανικό πλοίο και αναζητούν ένα κατάλληλο λιμάνι στη Μεσόγειο όπου μπορεί να γίνει η επεξεργασία αυτή, προσθέτει σε σχετική ανακοίνωσή του ο ΟΑΧΟ.
  "Ο γενικός διευθυντής (του ΟΑΧΟ) δήλωσε ότι επιχειρήσεις εξουδετέρωσης (των χημικών όπλων) θα γίνουν στη θάλασσα πάνω σε ένα πλοίο των ΗΠΑ με τη χρήση της τεχνικής της υδρόλυσης", διευκρινίζει στην ανακοίνωσή του ο διεθνής οργανισμός, ο οποίος εδρεύει στη Χάγη. Ο ΟΑΧΟ βρισκόταν υπό πίεση για να βρει ένα εναλλακτικό σχέδιο για την καταστροφή του χημικού οπλοστασίου της Συρίας μετά την άρνηση της Αλβανίας να φιλοξενήσει το έργο αυτό. Σύμφωνα με τον ΟΑΧΟ, συνολικά 35 εταιρείες εκδήλωσαν ενδιαφέρον ως τη χθεσινή διορία που είχε δοθεί για τη σύναψη εμπορικών συμβολαίων για την καταστροφή περίπου 800 τόνων ακατέργαστων βιομηχανικών χημικών προϊόντων, η καταστροφή των οποίων μπορεί να γίνει με ασφάλεια σε εμπορικούς αποτεφρωτήρες. Όμως άλλοι περίπου 500 τόνοι χημικών, στους οποίους περιλαμβάνονται νευροπαραλυτικά αέρια, θεωρούνται πολύ επικίνδυνοι για να εισαχθούν σε μια χώρα ή να υποβληθούν σε επεξεργασία από εταιρείες και θα καταστραφούν στη θάλασσα πάνω στο αμερικανικό πλοίο. Ο ΟΑΧΟ διευκρίνισε ότι η επιχείρηση αυτή θα γίνει πάνω σε ένα αμερικανικό πλοίο στη θάλασσα με τη χρήση της μεθόδου της υδρόλυσης και πρόσθεσε ότι ένα πλοίο υποβάλλεται σε τροποποιήσεις για να μπορεί να υποστηρίξει τις επιχειρήσεις αυτές. "Ένα πλοίο βρίσκεται στο στάδιο της τροποποίησης για να μπορεί να υποδεχθεί τις επιχειρήσεις αυτές και να υποστηρίξει τις επιχειρήσεις επαλήθευσης του ΟΑΧΟ", προσθέτει ο οργανισμός στην ανακοίνωσή του. "Οι ΗΠΑ προσφέρθηκαν να συμβάλουν προσφέροντας μια τεχνολογία καταστροφής, πλήρη επιχειρησιακή υποστήριξη και χρηματοδότηση για την εξουδετέρωση χημικών της Συρίας που συνιστούν προτεραιότητα", καταλήγει ο ΟΑΧΟ στην ανακοίνωσή του.  

Τα πιο επικίνδυνα συριακά χημικά όπλα αναμένεται να έχουν μεταφερθεί εκτός της Συρίας πριν από την 31η Δεκεμβρίου, βάσει μιας συμφωνίας του εκτελεστικού συμβουλίου του ΟΑΧΟ που συνήφθη στα μέσα Νοεμβρίου. Τότε το εκτελεστικό συμβούλιο του διεθνούς οργανισμού είχε υιοθετήσει έναν οδικό χάρτη για την καταστροφή του συριακού χημικού οπλοστασίου ως τα μέσα του 2014, ο οποίος περιλαμβάνει ένα σχέδιο το οποίο αναφέρει με λεπτομέρεια τις πιθανές μεθόδους που μπορούν να χρησιμοποιηθούν για την καταστροφή των όπλων αυτών, εκτός της Συρίας, στη στεριά ή τη θάλασσα.  

Ωστόσο, παρά τη συναίνεση για την καταστροφή του συριακού χημικού οπλοστασίου εκτός της χώρας αυτής που βρίσκεται σε πόλεμο, καμία χώρα δεν έχει δεχθεί μέχρι σήμερα αυτό να γίνει στο έδαφός της. Η πλειονότητα των λοιπών χημικών όπλων και των πρόδρομων χημικών προϊόντων που αποτελούν μέρος της σύνθεσης τοξικών προϊόντων, με εξαίρεση την ισοπροπανόλη, η οποία μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί στην παρασκευή αερίου σαρίν, θα έχουν απομακρυνθεί από την Συρία ως τις 5 Φεβρουαρίου του 2014, σύμφωνα με τον ΟΑΧΟ.  

Την ίδια ώρα η καταστροφή των εγκαταστάσεων παραγωγής που έχουν δηλωθεί από τις συριακές αρχές θα γίνει από τις 15 Δεκεμβρίου φέτος ως τις 15 Μαρτίου του 2014, σύμφωνα και πάλι με το διεθνή οργανισμό.
 politisnews.eu 
30/11/13
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MV Cape Ray

OPCW Executive Council adopts plan for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme in the first half of 2014

• Most critical chemicals to leave Syria by end of 2013 
• Over 60 percent of unfilled warheads and bombs destroyed
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The OPCW Executive Council (EC) approved today a detailed plan of destruction to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile. In the plan, Syrian chemical weapons will be transported for destruction outside its territory to ensure their destruction in the “safest and soonest manner”, and no later than June 30th 2014. 
“I welcome the decision reached today by the Executive Council,” said OPCW Director General Ahmet Ümzücü.
“The plan provides a clear roadmap. It sets ambitious milestones to be met by the Government of Syria. This next phase will be the most challenging and its timely execution will require the existence of a secure environment for the verification and transport of chemical weapons. Continuing international support and assistance for this endeavour will remain crucial.”
“I wish to express my sincere appreciation for all the States who have supported this mission – through both financial and in-kind contributions,” said OPCW-UN Joint Mission Special Coordinator Sigrid Kaag addressing the Council.  “I am currently reaching out to others to consider joining this international effort, which is key to the successful implementation of the Executive Council’s decision”
The EC’s decision distinguishes between destruction actions “in the Syrian Arab Republic” and destruction activities “outside the territory” of Syria and stipulates intermediate destruction milestones leading to the complete elimination of its chemical weapons programme. 
The plan envisions the removal of all declared chemical substances and precursors, except for isopropanol, from Syria no later than 5 February 2014 with the “most critical” chemicals to be transported out of Syria by 31 December 2013.  Syrian declared chemical weapons facilities, will undergo sequenced destruction from 15 December 2013 to 15 March 2014 according to a risk-based criterion.
With respect to activities outside Syria, the Executive Council decided that the destruction of the priority chemical weapons will be completed by 31 March 2014 and all other declared chemical materials by 30 June 2014.
The OPCW Director-General will present a specific plan for the destruction of Syrian chemicals outside the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic which includes provisions for ensuring clear responsibility at each stage for all chemicals and takes into account all relevant consideration, including target dates, requirements for safety and security, and overall costs. The Director-General is also requested to establish a special Trust Fund for this purpose and to keep the Executive Council informed on progress and if target dates will be modified.
Reporting on the progress on the ground, the Director-General informed the Executive Council that the OPCW-UN Joint Mission was able to verify the destruction of over 60 percent of Syria’s declared unfilled munitions to date.  As per the Executive Council decision, the Syrian Arab Republic has committed to destroy all unfilled munitions, composed of warheads and bombs, by 31 January 2014.
For more information please contact:

• Sausan Ghosheh
  OPCW-UN Joint Mission Spokesperson
  E-mail ghosheh@un.org
  Phone: +963-95-850-3074.   

• Christian Chartier
  OPCW Media and Public Affairs / Spokesperson
  E-mail: christian.chartier@opcw.org
  Tel: +31 (0) 70 416 3739
  Mobile: +31 (0) 6 5356 5894

• United Nations Spokesperson’s Office
  Phone: 1- 212- 963-7160

opcw.org
15/11/13