„Der UN-Generaldirektor hat verkündet, dass die USA Hilfe bei der Technologie für die Entsorgung, umfassende operative Unterstützung und Finanzierung für die Neutralisierung der prioritären syrischen chemischen Kampfstoffe angeboten haben, die bis zum 31. Dezember außer Landes gebracht werden müssen“, so die OPCW.
Die Vernichtung der syrischen C-Waffen soll dabei auf einem US-Schiff unter Anwendung eines Hydrolyse-Verfahrens geschehen.
Auf dem US-Schiff werden laut der Organisation für ein Verbot der Chemiewaffen bereits die nötigen Geräte installiert.
http://de.ria.ru/security_and_military/20131130/267387199.html
30/11/13
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U.S. ship readies for Syria arms destruction...
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. government has started equipping U.S. ship Cape Ray to enable it to destroy some of Syria’s chemical weapons at sea, if Washington is asked to assist in the effort.
The Maritime Administration vessel MV Cape Ray is being equipped with the newly developed Field Deployable Hydrolysis System, which was designed by the Defense Department to neutralize components used in chemical weapons, a defense official said on condition of anonymity to Reuters.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is monitoring the destruction of Syria’s chemical arsenal, said last week the United States had offered to destroy some of the components on a U.S. ship and was looking for a Mediterranean port for the process.
“The United States is committed to supporting the international community’s efforts to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons in the safest, most efficient and effective means possible,” Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, told Reuters.
“We have offered and are currently outfitting a U.S. vessel with field deployable hydrolysis system technology to support the OPCW's efforts,” she said, adding the U.S. remained “confident that we can meet the milestones for destruction set out by the OPCW.”
The Cape Ray, a 198-meter vessel with built-in ramps to enable cargo to be efficiently rolled on and rolled off, is part of the Maritime Administration’s ready reserve force of 46 ships, Reuters reported.
The operation will destroy what is known as “priority chemical weapons,” the most dangerous of Syria’s total arsenal and ones that have to be out of the country by Dec. 31. All other declared chemical materials are to be eliminated by June 30.
Some chemical weapons are destroyed through a process called hydrolysis, in which agents, like detergents, are used to neutralize chemicals such as mustard gas and sulphur, resulting in liquid waste known as effluent.
The OPCW said on Saturday that 35 commercial companies have expressed an interest in destroying the lower priority, less dangerous weapons, according to Agence France-Presse.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed in September to give up his country’s chemicals weapons stockpile to avert a the threat of U.S. missile strikes following a sarin gas attack that killed hundreds of people outside the capital Damascus. The U.S. has blamed Assad for the attach, a charge he rejected.
A team of U.N.-OPCW inspectors has been on the ground since October, checking Syria’s weapons and facilities.
(With Reuters and AFP)
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/12/02/U-S-ship-readies-for-Syria-arms-destruction-.html
2/12/13
NATO Offers Help in Removing Syria's Chemical Weapons...
ReplyDeleteBRUSSELS, December 4 (RIA Novosti) – NATO will aid the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in its ongoing effort to remove Syria's stockpile of poisonous gases, if a request for assistance is made, the head of the Atlantic alliance said Wednesday.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen made the remarks following a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels.
“We welcome all support provided by the NATO-Russia Council member states to the OPCW-UN Joint Mission and stand ready to consider further assistance to the OPCW-UN Joint Mission if requested,” NATO said in a statement on its website.
Russia and the United States agreed a plan in September for the disposal of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles after a series of alleged chemical attacks by government forces on civilians.
A suitable site for disposal of the chemical weapons stocks is yet to be found. An initial proposal to carry out the work in Albania had to be abandoned following mass protests.
According to US military intelligence reports compiled prior to the outbreak of civil war, Syria has around 1,000 tons of various chemical weapons, including mustard gas and the lethal nerve agents VX and Sarin.
http://en.ria.ru/world/20131204/185254966/NATO-Offers-Help-in-Removing-Syrias-Chemical-Weapons.html
4/12/13
Security threat to Syria weapons plan....
ReplyDeleteBad security in Syria threatens to set back the ambitious attempt to destroy the country’s chemical weapons arsenal by mid-2014, the head of the global chemical-weapons watchdog warned on Wednesday.
Preparations are underway to move the most dangerous chemical agents to Syria’s Mediterranean port of Latakia, but dangers along key roads could delay the plan, said Sigrid Kaag, head of the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Syria mission.
“There are factors beyond our control” which could affect the schedule, Kaag told reporters.
As an example, she said, bad security on the highway connecting Damascus and the northern city of Homs, which is a key artery en route to Latakia, forced her to fly to Beirut and then to Latakia by helicopter for a meeting in recent days.
The highway has been the scene of a months-long government offensive against rebels. Kaag said it would be “a real issue” if the route can’t be used to transport containers of chemicals to the port.
The Syrian government is responsible for providing security for the transfer of the containers to Latakia, “and of course there are security constraints that are serious,” Kaag said.
But for now, she said, there is no alternative to using Latakia.
France’s U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud, the current council president, said the first “crunch points” in eliminating Syria’s chemical weapons were getting access to the sites and preparing the chemical agents for transport, and this “has been possible.”
He said “the next crunch points” are transporting the containers with chemical agents to Latakia, which will depend on security on the roads “which is still doubtful” - and then transporting the containers out of the country for destruction and final disposal of the chemicals.
Awaiting approval
Meanwhile, the watchdog and the United Nations are still waiting for an unidentified country to approve the usage of its port to load Syria’s most deadly chemicals onto a U.S. ship for destruction offshore, Reuters reported Kaag as saying.
Kaag briefed the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday but did not identify which country she had been in talks with.
The OPCW said on Saturday the United States had started modifying a U.S. naval vessel to be able to destroy Syria’s 500 tons of chemicals, including actual nerve agents - neutralizing them offshore with other chemicals in a process known as hydrolysis.
Italy, Norway and Denmark have offered to transport Syria’s chemicals from the northern Syrian port of Latakia with military escorts. The chemicals would then be transferred to the U.S. ship at another port.
“We’re still awaiting confirmation by a member state that a port is available for trans-loading, so it will be trans-loading in a port,” Reuters quoted Kaag as telling reporters after briefing the council.
When asked if the port to be used would likely be in the Mediterranean, she said: “The geographic range is quite significant, so no, not necessarily. At the moment, we’re discussing and we’re hoping to have early confirmation soon.”
(With Reuters and AP)
Last Update: Thursday, 5 December 2013 KSA 10:19 - GMT 07:19
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/12/05/Security-threat-to-Syria-weapons-plan.html
5/12/13
OPCW reappoints Uzumcu as director-general....
ReplyDeleteTHE HAGUE, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) --Ahmet Uzumcu was reappointed as Director-General of Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons(OPCW) at the 18th session of the conference of state parties, the international chemical weapons watchdog announced Wednesday.
"I wish to express my sincere gratitude to all States Parties for the trust and confidence that is reflected in their decision to reappoint me as Director-General of the OPCW for a second term," the 62-year-old Uzumcu said.
He continued, "On my part, I renew to you my pledge to serve this organization with my full commitment, complete dedication, and to the best of my ability."
According to a statement from OPCW, the Director-General called 2013 "a truly historical year" that witnessed an unprecedented challenge for the OPCW in the form of eliminating Syria's chemical weapons in the midst of an active war.
He added that the Nobel Committee's decision to award the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize to the OPCW is "a clear recognition of 16 years of past achievement of the OPCW, representing a valuable contribution to global peace and security (that) will inspire us in our ongoing and future work."
Ahmet Uzumcu has served as OPCW Director-General since July 2010.
http://english.cntv.cn/20131205/100820.shtml
4/12/13