OPCW adopted final roadmap for destruction of Syria’s Chemical Weapons

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the UN Chemical weapons watchdog on 15 November 2013 started its work on the final roadmap for the destruction of chemical arsenals of Syria. In 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 30 June 2014.

The deadline of OPCW to agree on the destruction milestones of more than 1000 tonnes of dangerous chemicals in Syria expired on 15 November 2013. The plan was adopted during the meeting of its 41-member Executive Council in The Hague.

The UN Security Council gave its mandate to the agency to destroy the weapons of mass destruction by mid-2014. As per the reports, OPCW will send the resource for packaging and handling the chemical materials to 12 chemical storage sites by December 2013, under a tentative plan. Subsequently, the chemicals would be taken to Syria's Latakia port from where they would be shipped out by 5 February 2013.

About Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) that entered into force in 1997. As of today the OPCW has 190 Member States, who are working together to achieve a world free from chemical weapons. They share the collective goal of preventing chemistry from ever again being used for warfare, thereby strengthening international security.