Destruction of Syria's chemical weapons misses deadline

The operation to destroy Syria's chemical weapons is set to  miss its December 31 deadline

The complete elimination of Syrian chemical arsenal include three stages in which first stage involving  destruction of critical parts of equipment to produce chemical weapons, mix their components and fill ammunition with toxic agents have been destroyed.

The second stage  involves  the  destruction of more than 1,000 metric tons of weapons-grade chemicals  and for that the  most dangerous weapons were to be removed from Syria by the end of December and destroyed at sea by April.

T o completely eradicate Syria's chemical weapons program by mid-2014 the OPCW statement says all chemical substances and precursors but isopropanol will be transported by February 5, 2014, with the “most critical” ones being removed by December 31, 2013. They will then be destroyed by March 15, 2014, with the other chemicals being destroyed by June 30, 2014.

The final and last stage involves United Nations mission support to monitor all destruction of 1,000 tonnes of chemical weapons. The UN/OPCW has no mandate to destroy them so a UN member state will have to provide technical and operational support.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a statement issued by his spokesperson, stressed that the international effort to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons continues to make effective progress, as demonstrated by the “steady achievements” in meeting all previous milestones the past three months.

The elimination of Syrian chemical weapons out of the country involves transporting them through Danish and Norwegian vessels from the Syrian port of Latakia to a port in Italy. They will then be loaded onto a United States ship and destroyed at sea using hydrolysis.

Moreover ,it is hazardous to transport dangerous toxins used to make nerve agents sarin gas, VX gas and others to Latakia in the prevailing  volatile security situation in Syria.

Logistical challenges coupled with inclement weather have contributed to the delay in removing  most critical chemical material from Syria

Bashar al-Assad regime has cooperated  with a joint United Nations/Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) team to remove chemical weapons for destruction at sea in which  OPCW laid out a Dec. 31 target date when it announced a plan for Syrian CW destruction on Nov. 15.

At the end of October, the Syrian Government destroyed critical chemical weapons production equipment, rendering it inoperable. By doing so, Damascus met the deadline set by the OPCW Executive Council to complete the destruction of such equipment by 1 November.

Under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States, Damascus agreed to destroy all its chemical weapons after Washington threatened to use force in response to the killing of hundreds of people in a sarin attack on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21.