Second Cargo of Chemical Agents Leaves Syria as Pace Is Criticized
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Version 0 of 1. The second cargo of Syria’s most toxic chemical weapons was exported by ship on Monday for eventual destruction at sea, officials overseeing the effort reported. But the slow pace of removal, which is way behind schedule and has missed one deadline already, is causing increased concern and threatening to violate another deadline in less than two weeks. The two cargos exported so far from the port of Latakia — the first left Jan. 7 — have each carried a total of 15 to 20 tons, diplomats and arms control experts have said privately. If confirmed, the low estimate would be only about 5 percent of the 600 tons of the most lethal compounds, including components of sarin and VX nerve agents, that Syria had been obliged to export by the end of 2013, the first deadline under the government’s pledge to renounce chemical weapons. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations, which are collaborating on the effort to ensure the destruction of the weapons in the midst of Syria’s civil war, have declined to specify how much has been exported and how much remains among the so-called priority chemicals, stored in 12 sites around the country. A statement by the chemical weapons organization posted online announced the export of the second cargo aboard Danish and Norwegian cargo ships, protected by a naval escort of Chinese, Danish, Norwegian and Russian vessels. The organization said it looked forward to Syria “continuing its efforts to complete the removal of its chemical weapons materials in a safe, secure and timely manner.” But the organization, which won the Nobel Peace Prize last year in part because of its role in the plan to neutralize the Syrian stockpile, has signaled dissatisfaction at the slow pace. Officials have hinted at growing impatience with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and his subordinates, who up until this month had been highly cooperative. “They should be way down the road by now,” Christian Chartier, a spokesman for the organization, said in a telephone interview from its offices at The Hague. Mr. Assad has signaled his impatience, too, asserting in an interview last week with Agence France-Presse that the chemical organization was at fault for what he called a failure to provide sufficient equipment to get the chemicals safely to Latakia for export. “So far, the process of making equipment available has been quite slow,” he said. Officials at the organization have declined to comment on Mr. Assad’s complaint. Under a previously agreed timetable, all of Syria’s estimated 1,200 tons of chemical weapons compounds are supposed to be exported by Feb. 6. That second deadline appears increasingly likely to be missed. Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations official who is coordinating the effort in Syria, raised the possibility this month of further delays because of security concerns. But she said the goal was still to ensure that Syria’s arsenal was destroyed by midyear. “Many of us think it is moving far too slow,” a European diplomat monitoring the progress of the program said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of diplomatic protocol. “This is risking deadlines, and if they don’t step up the pace it may have a big impact.” Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, an antiproliferation group in Washington, said it was unclear what Mr. Assad gained by delay. “These chemical materials are no longer a military asset,” he said. “They’re a logistical and security burden.” |