The US urges Syria to hand over chemical weapons
(VOVworld) – US government officials have urged the administration of Syrian Bashar Al Assad to push ahead the transfer of chemical weapon arsenals for destruction under the agreement with the international community.
Norway and Denmark are providing transport for Syria's weapons from the port of Latakia |
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki voiced concern that a deadline set with Damascus to remove the most dangerous chemical arms from the country had been missed by a month. She called on Syria to immediately take necessary actions to transport the rest chemical weapons to sea ports where they will be taken to destruction sites as schedule.
The same day, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel asked the Syrian government to respect its commitments.
There were information that only 5% of Syria’s chemical weapons caches were delivered to destruction sites. The OPCW planned to transport all 700 tons of most dangerous chemical stockpiles out of Syria before January 2014 to destroy them in the coming months.