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Syria given November deadline to destroy all chemical weapons facilities Syria given November deadline to destroy all chemical weapons facilities
(about 9 hours later)
Syria will have to destroy all its chemical weapons production facilities by the beginning of November and completely dismantle its entire arsenal of poison gases and nerve agents by the middle of next year, under an accelerated timetable drawn up by the world's chemical weapons watchdog. Syria will have to destroy all its chemical weapons production facilities by November and dismantle all its poison gases and nerve agents by the middle of next year, under an accelerated timetable drawn up by the world's chemical weapons watchdog.
The governing council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was due to convene in The Hague on Friday, two days earlier than expected, to clear the way early next week for inspectors to begin the task of checking Syria's declared stockpile of chemical munitions, delivery systems and production facilities. The governing council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) agreed last night in The Hague for a disarmament plan starting on Tuesday when inspectors arrive in Syria to embark on the task of checking Syria's declared stockpile of chemical munitions, delivery systems and production facilities.
"This decision sends an unmistakable message that the international community is coming together to work for peace in Syria beginning with the elimination of chemical weapons in that country," said OPCW director general Ahmet Uzumcu.
The international agreement to secure Syria's chemical arsenal follows a chemical weapons attack on rebel-held suburbs in eastern Damascus on 21 August, and the subsequent threat of US military action.The international agreement to secure Syria's chemical arsenal follows a chemical weapons attack on rebel-held suburbs in eastern Damascus on 21 August, and the subsequent threat of US military action.
The UN said on Friday that its weapons inspectors in Damascus were investigating a total of seven sites where chemical weapons were allegedly used, including three that took place after the 21 August attack. The three most recent incidents were in Bahhariyeh and Jobar, both east of central Damascus, on 22 and 24 August, and Ashrafiat Sahnaya to the southwest of the capital on 25 August. The UN gave no further details of the latest incidents. The UN said yesterday that its weapons inspectors in Damascus were investigating a total of seven sites where chemical weapons were allegedly used, including three incidents after the 21 August attack. They were in Bahhariyeh and Jobar, both east of central Damascus, on 22 and 24 August, and Ashrafiat Sahnaya to the south-west of the capital on 25 August. The UN gave no further details.
The UN security council was due to meet later on Friday to vote on a resolution that would make the OPCW legally binding on Bashar al-Assad's regime. But under a compromise between Russia and the west clinched on Thursday, the resolution does not include automatic punitive measures against the Syrian government if it fails to comply. Any punitive measures, from sanctions to military action, would require a second resolution. The UN security council voted unanimously on Friday for a resolution that makes the OPCW legally binding on Bashar al-Assad's regime. But under a compromise between Russia and the west clinched on Thursday, the resolution does not include automatic punitive measures against the Syrian government if it fails to comply.
The OPCW plan however, gives the inspectors a broad mandate. According to a draft published on The Trench website, run by a Belgian chemical weapons expert Jean Pascal Zanders, Syria will have to provide "OPCW personnel with the immediate and unfettered right to inspect any and all sites in the Syrian Arab Republic". Any punitive measures, from sanctions to military action, would require a second resolution. The OPCW plan, however, gives the inspectors a broad mandate. According to a draft published on the Trench website, run by Belgian chemical weapons expert Jean Pascal Zanders, Syria will have to give OPCW personnel "the immediate and unfettered right to inspect any and all sites in the Syrian Arab Republic".
The draft also sets a much faster pace for Syria compared with the requirements of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The clock starts ticking for the government to meet its deadlines from the moment the OPCW council agrees the plan rather than the date Syria's membership of the convention formally starts on 14 October. The plan also sets a much faster pace for Syria compared with the requirements of the chemical weapons convention. The clock starts ticking for the government to meet its deadlines from the moment the OPCW council agrees the plan rather than the date on which Syria's membership of the convention formally starts, 14 October.
The draft plan stated that Syria should "complete as soon as possible, and in any case not later than 1 November 2013, the destruction of chemical weapons production and mixing/filling equipment". That process will involve wrecking vats and reaction chambers, possibly by filling them with concrete, as well as smashing equipment for mixing precursor chemicals and for filling rockets and artillery shells". The plan states that Syria should "complete as soon as possible, and in any case not later than 1 November 2013, the destruction of chemical weapons production and mixing/filling equipment".
As the main production facilities lie in the heart of government-held territory, the destruction process is not expected to be held back by the continuing fighting. According to Zanders, however, it would represent a very significant step. As the main production facilities lie in the heart of government-held territory, the destruction process is not expected to be held back by the continuing fighting. The OPCW plan then gives the Syrian government until the middle of 2014 to eliminate the rest of its arsenal. This deadline is far more challenging as the dismantling of munitions already loaded with chemical agents is a painstaking task.
"The idea is to eliminate the development and production capacities at the earliest possible moment. Hence also the significance of destroying filling equipment, so that any warfare capacity would immediately be severely reduced," he said. The biggest question mark over the plan is what happens if Syria is caught cheating or dragging its heels. The west lost the battle to have the UN resolution implementing the plan under chapter seven of the UN charter, involving automatic punitive measures. Any such measures would require a further resolution.
The OPCW plan then gives the Syrian government until the middle of 2014 to eliminate the rest of its arsenal. This deadline is far more challenging as the dismantling of munitions already loaded with chemical agents is a painstaking and time-consuming task. It requires the construction of special chemical neutralisation plants and incinerators. In the US and Russian cases it has taken two decades and is still not complete. But a senior US administration ­official argued that the wording of the draft ­resolution due to be voted on was tough, and implied serious consequences for noncompliance. "I think you'll see in the final language that, in fact, for the first time, we have said that the use of chemical weapons is a threat to international peace and security," the official said.
Syria has already handed an inventory of its chemical weapons arsenal to the OPCW, but the plan gives Damascus another week to ensure there are no omissions from its list. After the security council vote, the US secretary of state, John Kerry, said: "Security council shows diplomacy can be so powerful, it can defuse the worst weapons. If this resolution is implemented, we will have eliminated one of the biggest chemical weapons arsenals on earth, in one of the most volatile regions on earth."
In view of the size of the task, the OPCW acknowledges it will have to bring in extra inspectors, mostly former and retired inspectors with OPCW experience. Weapons experts say that much of the Syrian stockpile is in the form of unmixed precursor chemicals which would be easier than munitions to destroy. The UN secretary general said that the resolution banning Syria's chemical weapons could not become "a licence to kill with conventional weapons". He called for a new Syria peace conference in mid-November.
Even so, Zanders argues the feasibility of the mid-2014 deadline will rely on many other factors. Much will depend on the amount of assistance offered by the states that are parties to the chemical weapons convention, and the ability of the OPCW to mobilise former staff with the required expertise, Zanders said.
"We also need to see what Ban Ki-moon will decide within the mandate he will receive from the UNSC, particularly with regard to safety and security of all the staff and personnel that will be involved," he added.
Russia has offered to supply its own troops and suggested that other former Soviet republics could help with security but those arrangements have yet to be confirmed.
The biggest question mark over the plan is what happens if Syria is caught cheating or dragging its heels. The west lost the battle to have the UN resolution implementing the plan under chapter seven of the UN charter, involving automatic punitive measures. Any such measures would require a further resolution. But a senior US administration official argued that the wording of the draft resolution due to be voted on tonight was tough, and implied serious consequences for non-compliance.
"I think you'll see in the final language that, in fact, for the first time we have said that the use of chemical weapons is a threat to international peace and security," the official said. "And for those of you who follow UN language, that language has meaning. It means that not only is the council seized of this, but that it is of such a risk and such a threat to the international order that there should be consequences if, in fact, use continues."
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