Syria chemical weapons destruction plan due next month

PanARMENIAN.Net - An international chemical weapons watchdog said Tuesday, November 19 that it would by December 17 release its plan for destroying Syria’s chemical arsenal abroad, according to RIA Novosti.

The plan should define responsibility for each stage of the dismantlement and take into account target dates, safety and security requirements, as well as overall costs, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in a statement.

The plan, which calls for the arsenal to be destroyed outside war-torn country’s borders, is expected to be approved by January 15.

The organization’s executive council last week approved a detailed, tentative plan for the dismantlement, to be performed in the “safest and soonest manner” and no later than June 30, 2014.

The plan envisions the removal of all declared chemical substances and precursors – except for the sarin component isopropanol – no later than February 5, 2014, with the “most critical” chemicals to be transported out of the country before December 31.

Syrian chemical weapons facilities are set to undergo sequenced destruction from December 15 to March 15.