UN suggests removal of Syria chemicals unnecessarily delayed

United Nations: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon suggested in a report on Tuesday that an operation to remove Syria’s chemical weapons had been unnecessarily delayed and that he had expressed his concern to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Under a deal negotiated by Russia and the United States, Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons arsenal after an August 21 sarin gas attack, which killed hundreds of people and led to threats of U.S. air strikes. The Syrian government and rebels blamed each other for the attack. Ban said in a report to the UN Security Council, dated January 27 but made publicly available on Tuesday, that a December 31 deadline for removing Syria’s worst chemicals had been missed. Syria has said the operation faces security challenges. [caption id=“attachment_1364225” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Under a deal negotiated by Russia and the United States, Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons arsenal after an August 21 sarin gas attack, which killed hundreds of people and led to threats of U.S. air strikes. Reuters[/caption] “While remaining aware of the challenging security situation inside the Syrian Arab Republic, it is the assessment of the Joint Mission that (Syria) has sufficient material and equipment to carry out multiple ground movements to ensure the expeditious removal of chemical weapons material,” Ban said. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons set the December 31 deadline for the removal from Syria of the worst chemicals, which include components for making sarin and VX nerve agent. These toxins are supposed to be destroyed offshore on a specially equipped U.S. ship by March 31. The rest of Syria’s chemical materials are due to be transferred out of the country by February 5 and destroyed by June 30. The operation is being overseen by a joint mission of the global chemical arms watchdog and the United Nations. Syria’s three-year civil war has killed more than 100,000 people and caused millions to flee, according to U.N. figures. Ban’s report was written before the joint mission said on Monday that a second shipment of chemical weapons materials had been transferred out of Syria, nearly three weeks after the first batch was removed. He said in his report that the first shipment represented a “small quantity” of the worst chemicals and that the entire operation was now behind schedule. “In recent days I have spoken to the Syrian Arab Republic and other Member States concerned to express my concern regarding this delay,” Ban said. “The Director-General of the OPCW and the Special Coordinator (of the joint U.N.-OPCW mission in Syria) have similarly engaged Syrian representatives to persuade them to enable immediate removal,” Ban said. The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in September on the operation to dismantle Syria’s chemical weapons program, but it did not threaten automatic punitive action against Assad’s government if it does not comply. Eliminating Syria’s chemical weapons under tight deadlines amid a civil war was overly ambitious from the beginning, some experts have said. Syria’s toxic stockpile is spread over storage sites across the country and the chemicals must be transported by road to the port of Latakia. Reuters