Latest News from India - Chemical arms watchdog adopts Syria stockpile plan

divspan class=BodyText readability=39The global chemical weapons watchdog says it has now adopted a detailed plan for the destruction of Syria's stockpile by mid-2014.pFriday had been the deadline for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to agree a final destruction timetable./ppThe deadline was set under a US-Russia brokered plan backed by the UN./ppThe plan was adopted despite an earlier setback, when Albania rejected a request to host the destruction./ppWhere the stockpile will be transported to be destroyed remains unclear.br /'Clear roadmap'/ppA statement on the OPCW website said that under 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'./ppThe 'most critical' chemicals will be removed by 31 December and all other declared chemical substances by 5 February, except for isopropanol - one of two key ingredients for the nerve agent, sarin./ppThe statement read: 'Syrian declared chemical weapons facilities will undergo sequenced destruction from 15 December to 15 March, according to a risk-based criterion.'/ppWelcoming the adoption of the plan, OPCW director general Ahmet Umzucu said: 'The plan provides a clear roadmap. It sets ambitious milestones to be met by the government of Syria./pp'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.'/ppFriday's 41-member OPCW executive council meeting in The Hague had been adjourned for several hours as it awaited Albania's decision./ppThe Balkan nation had recently destroyed its own chemical stockpile, and the US had asked it to host the dismantling of Syria's arsenal./ppBut following days of protests in the capital, Tirana, and other cities, Prime Minister Edi Rama said in a televised address: 'It is impossible for Albania to get involved in this operation.'/ppHundreds of demonstrators gathered in Tirana to protest against hosting the destruction/ppHowever, the prime minister attacked the Albanian opposition for having criticised his government's willingness to consider the idea./ppThe US embassy in Tirana said in a statement that it respected the government's decision, adding that America 'will continue to work with allies and partners as well as the OPCW and the United Nations to ensure the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons programme'./ppFrance and Belgium have been named as possible alternative locations for destroying Syria's estimated 1,000 tonnes of chemical arms./ppNorway has pledged to send a civilian cargo ship and a navy frigate to Syrian ports to pick up the weapons and carry them elsewhere for destruction./ppHowever it said that it could not destroy the weapons on its own soil because it lacked the expertise./ppThe OPCW confirmed last month that it had destroyed all Syria's declared chemical weapons production facilities, ahead of a 1 November deadline./ppThe weapons themselves had been placed under seal, it said./ppSigrid Kaag, the joint OPCW-UN mission coordinator in Syria, told Friday's OPCW meeting that inspectors were working 'in an active war zone, in an extreme security situation'./p/span/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center