BRUSSELS, November 29 (RIA Novosti) – The international chemical weapons watchdog overseeing the removal of Syria stockpile of poisonous arms will next month double the size of its mission, the organization said Friday.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is carrying out its operations in Syria in collaboration with the United Nations, said this week that a group of 14 experts had arrived in Syria on November 6.
They will be replaced by a team of 30 experts in the first week of December.
“Given the considerable increase in the workload in the coming weeks, the Secretariat intends to reinforce the team in Damascus. We will almost double the number of inspectors in Syria to about 30,” OPCW director general Ahmet Uzumcu said in the statement.
Uzumcu said the increase was to ensure the team was able to act simultaneously at different locations.
“This includes witnessing the decanting and packing of chemical products, collecting samples for further analysis, as well as monitoring the loading and embarkation of chemicals for transportation outside Syrian territory,” he said.
Under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States, Syria agreed in September to destroy its chemical weapons by mid-2014. The agreement to eradicate the stockpile allowed the Syrian government to stave off a threatened US air strike.
Earlier this month, the OPCW executive council approved a detailed plan that envisions the removal of all declared chemical substances and precursors – except for the sarin component isopropanol – no later than February 5, 2014.
Syrian chemical weapons facilities are set to undergo sequenced destruction from December 15 to March 15.
