Photograph by Bixentro
The OPCW has said that the Syrian government has completed the functional destruction of critical equipment for all of its declared chemical weapons production facilities and mixing/filling plants, rendering them inoperable.
The completion of this first step in destroying the Syrian government’s entire chemical weapons arsenal came 24 hours before the deadline set by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The Assad regime now has until mid-2014 to complete the further stages of the decommissioning programme – destrying the stockpiles of the chemical weapons. This stockpile is believed to include more than 1,000 tonnes of the nerve agent sarin, and mustard gas – a chemical weapon first used in WWI.
In a statement the joint OPCW-UN Mission said:
The Joint OPCW-UN Mission has inspected 21 of the 23 sites declared by Syria, and 39 of the 41 facilities located at those sites. The two remaining sites were not visited due to safety and security concerns. But Syria declared those sites as abandoned and that the chemical weapons programme items they contained were moved to other declared sites, which were inspected.
The Joint Mission is now satisfied that it has verified – and seen destroyed – all of Syria’s declared critical production and mixing/filling equipment.
The destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal overseen by the OPCW came as a result sarin gas attack on in the rebel-controlled Ghouta region of Damascus which resulted in more than 1,200 casualties. The rebels, US, and UK blamed the regime for the attack, but the regime continues to claim the attack was a “false flag” action by the rebels to push for international support.
The Assad regime agreed to the destruction of their chemical weapons arsenal in order to prevent US-led direct military intervention in the ongoing civil war in the country, with US President Barack Obama previously calling the use of chemical weapons in the conflict a “red line”.
More than 100,000 people have been killed in the ongoing civil war in Syria, with two million refugees fleeing the fighting mostly to neighbouring countries, and five million people internally displaced. The situation for those still within Syria continues to degrade, with a recent WHO report showing cases of polio emerging in the war-torn country.
