Saturday, September 21, 2013

Syria Hands Over Chemical Weapon Data To Hague Watchdog

The Hague-based OPCW added that it expected more details from Syria in the coming days and had postponed a meeting planned for Sunday.

Syria was given a Saturday deadline to give a full list of its chemical arms.

The US had threatened military action over a chemical attack in Damascus which the UN says was a war crime.

The US, UK and France have accused Syrian government forces of carrying out the 21 August attack, in the Ghouta district, but President Bashar al-Assad has blamed rebel groups.

Separately, two Syrian rebel groups have agreed a ceasefire in the northern town of Azaz after two days of fighting that raised fears of a war within a war.
Meeting postponed

Michael Luhan, a spokesman for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is responsible for policing the treaty outlawing chemical arms, said Syria's submission was an "initial declaration".

Mr Luhan said it was now being examined by the organisation's technical secretariat but he declined to say what was in it.

A UN diplomat confirmed to Reuters that details had been submitted, adding: "It's quite long... and being translated."

The US-Russia-brokered deal aims to have inspectors on the ground in Syria in November, when they will make an initial assessment and oversee the destruction of certain equipment.

The destruction of all of Syria's chemical weapons would then be completed by mid-2014.

The core members of the OPCW were expected to vote on the timetable next week.

However, the OPCW said in a statement on Friday that a meeting of its executive council scheduled for Sunday had been postponed, without giving a reason.

"We will announce the new date and time... as soon as possible," it said.

Shared From BBC

Latest News

LOADING LATEST NEWS....

Loading Blog Posts...

Loading Images...

Loading Videos...

Unknown

- Unknown Updated at: Saturday, September 21, 2013

Monday, September 9, 2013

Syria Welcomes The Russian Proposal To Handover Chem. Weapons

Moscow: Syria has "welcomed" Russia's proposal for President Bashar al-Assad's regime to put chemical weapons under international control, CNN reported on Monday.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had told reporters that Russia will urge Syria to put its chemical weapons supply under international control if it doing so would avert U.S. military action.

Lavrov had called for international talks in Moscow to avert a military strike and end Syria's two-year-old conflict.

Speaking in Moscow alongside his Syrian counterpart, Lavrov blamed US-backed rebels in Syria for preventing a peace conference in Geneva.

Reports also said that Russia had pressed upon the UN atomic agency to report on the nuclear risk of air strikes on Syria in efforts to stave off possible US attack.

Two diplomats said Russian envoy Grigory Berdennikov urged action on an earlier request in comments today to the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board.

A confidential letter from the Russian foreign ministry to IAEA chief Yukiya Amano obtained by The Associated Press today warns of the "catastrophic" consequences of a strike on a research reactor near Damascus.

The diplomats, who were inside the closed meeting, demanded anonymity because they were not authorised to report on the discussion.

The IAEA has said it is assessing Russia's request.

With agency inputs

Shared From Zee News