Inspectors verify all but one of Syria’s chemical facilities
9 Nov 2013 4:32 AM IST
International experts have verified all but one of Syria’s 23 declared chemical weapons sites after receiving video and photographic evidence that shows a facility near the contested northern city of Aleppo has been dismantled and abandoned, the inspectors said on Thursday.
The joint mission by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations, which is overseeing the destruction of Syria’s chemical arsenal, visited 21 of the sites last month but were unable to visit two - one of them in Aleppo province - because of security concerns related to fighting in the area.
The Syrian government provided the joint mission with photographs and footage of the facility near Aleppo that confirmed the site has been dismantled and abandoned, the OPCW-UN mission said in a statement on Thursday. It added that the building bore signs of ‘extensive battle damage.’ It was not clear when the damage occurred.
The images were shot with a tamperproof camera that inspectors had fitted with a GPS system so that the location of the camera could be tracked, the statement said. The photos and video have been authenticated by international inspectors.
The OPCW-UN mission has not disclosed the location of the last remaining site the inspectors need to verify.
Still, Thursday’s statement marked a step forward for the inspectors, who are racing to meet a mid-2014 deadline to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons program.
Last week, the inspectors said President Bashar Assad’s government had met the deadline to destroy or ‘render inoperable’ all chemical weapon production facilities.
The joint mission by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations, which is overseeing the destruction of Syria’s chemical arsenal, visited 21 of the sites last month but were unable to visit two - one of them in Aleppo province - because of security concerns related to fighting in the area.
The Syrian government provided the joint mission with photographs and footage of the facility near Aleppo that confirmed the site has been dismantled and abandoned, the OPCW-UN mission said in a statement on Thursday. It added that the building bore signs of ‘extensive battle damage.’ It was not clear when the damage occurred.
The images were shot with a tamperproof camera that inspectors had fitted with a GPS system so that the location of the camera could be tracked, the statement said. The photos and video have been authenticated by international inspectors.
The OPCW-UN mission has not disclosed the location of the last remaining site the inspectors need to verify.
Still, Thursday’s statement marked a step forward for the inspectors, who are racing to meet a mid-2014 deadline to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons program.
Last week, the inspectors said President Bashar Assad’s government had met the deadline to destroy or ‘render inoperable’ all chemical weapon production facilities.
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