| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Syria last month met one of the major deadlines for destroying its chemical arms program by "rendering…inoperable" its facilities for producing chemical weapons and for readying the weapons for use, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Oct. 31. Under a plan issued by the OPCW Executive Council and endorsed by the UN Security Council in late September, Syria was to complete "the destruction of chemical weapons production and mixing/filling equipment" by Nov. 1. Mixing and filling equipment is used to load chemical agents into munitions. Government officials and independent experts welcomed the news, but added notes of caution. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry praised the OPCW-UN team that is overseeing and verifying the Syrian chemical disarmament effort for "work[ing] with unprecedented speed to accomplish the first milestone in eliminating Syria's chemical weapons and reducing the possibility that they will ever be used again." He emphasized that Syria must continue to comply with its obligations under the OPCW Executive Council and UN Security Council decisions.
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