October 7, 2013 -- Updated 1527 GMT (2327 HKT)
Syrians began destroying their country's chemical weapons program
Sunday, according to an international team tasked with overseeing the
effort. FULL STORY
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DISPLACED IN SYRIA
Destruction of Syria's chemical weapons begins, U.N. says
October 7, 2013 -- Updated 1038 GMT (1838 HKT)
A convoy of inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
prepares to cross into Syria at the Lebanese border crossing point of
Masnaa on Tuesday, October 1. Inspectors from the Netherlands-based
watchdog arrived in Syria to begin their complex mission of finding,
dismantling and ultimately destroying Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.
HIDE CAPTION
Suspected chemical attack in Syria
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- "Cutting torches and angle grinders" are being used to destroy the weapons
- "Missile warheads, aerial bombs and mixing and filling equipment" are being destroyed
- A U.N. team is "monitoring, verifying and reporting" on Syria's compliance with a resolution
- "The process will continue in the coming days," the U.N. says
Syrian personnel are
using "cutting torches and angle grinders to destroy or disable a range
of items," a news release from the Organisation for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons said Sunday. "This included missile warheads, aerial
bombs and mixing and filling equipment."
The OPCW team, which
arrived in Damascus on Tuesday, "are monitoring, verifying and reporting
on Syria's compliance with international demands to destroy chemical
weapons stockpiles and production facilities," the release said.
Syria begins to destroy chemical weapons
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"The process will
continue in the coming days," it said. The inspectors plan to visit
nearly 50 sites as part of the mission, the OPCW said.
Some are not convinced the plan will work.
A defected Syrian general
told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday that the government of Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad will never give up its chemical stockpile.
"The locations of most of
the scientific research centers in Syria and the storage facilities are
known and under surveillance, thus, he will give up those centers and
facilities for sure without lying. That said, however, Bashar al-Assad
will not give up the chemical stockpile," said Syrian Brig. Gen. Zaher
al-Sakat.
Al-Sakat said that he
defected from the Syrian military after he was ordered to use chemical
agents. He said he swapped the chemicals out for something non-toxic to
fool his commanders.
The general said that in
addition to four secret locations within Syria, the regime is currently
transferring chemical weapons to Iraq and Lebanon, an allegation that
the commander of the opposition Free Syrian Army, Gen. Salim Idriss,
also recently made to Amanpour.
Lebanon and Iraq denied
the claims at the time, and CNN's Barbara Starr reported that, if true,
the claim would fundamentally shift the assessments of U.S. intelligence
officials.
The U.N. Security
Council, capping a dramatic month of diplomacy, voted unanimously
September 27 to require Syria to eliminate its arsenal of chemical
weapons -- or face consequences.
"Today's resolution will
ensure that the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons program
happens as soon as possible and with the utmost transparency and
accountability," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.
The U.N. resolution was
based on a deal struck this month between the United States and Russia
that averted an American military strike over allegations the Syrian
government used sarin nerve gas in an August 21 attack on a Damascus
suburb. U.S. officials said it left at least 1,400 people dead.
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