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| Syria to Miss Deadline On Weapons, Official Says | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| The United Nations secretary general has for the first time acknowledged that the eradication of Syria’s chemical arms stockpile will not be completed by June 30, the deadline imposed by a diplomatic agreement last September in which President Bashar al-Assad renounced the weapons and avoided a threatened American military strike. | The United Nations secretary general has for the first time acknowledged that the eradication of Syria’s chemical arms stockpile will not be completed by June 30, the deadline imposed by a diplomatic agreement last September in which President Bashar al-Assad renounced the weapons and avoided a threatened American military strike. |
| In a May 23 letter to the Security Council obtained by The New York Times on Wednesday, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that roughly 8 percent of the stockpile remained in Syria, awaiting shipment for destruction abroad. Mr. Ban also said that one of Syria’s 12 storage facilities had yet to be closed, and that only five of 18 production facilities had been closed. | In a May 23 letter to the Security Council obtained by The New York Times on Wednesday, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that roughly 8 percent of the stockpile remained in Syria, awaiting shipment for destruction abroad. Mr. Ban also said that one of Syria’s 12 storage facilities had yet to be closed, and that only five of 18 production facilities had been closed. |
| “It is imperative that the Syrian Arab Republic concludes the remaining removal operations as quickly as possible, as the authorities have pledged to do,” he wrote in the letter. “However, it is now evident that some activities related to the elimination of the chemical weapons program of the Syrian Arab Republic will continue beyond 30 June 2014.” | “It is imperative that the Syrian Arab Republic concludes the remaining removal operations as quickly as possible, as the authorities have pledged to do,” he wrote in the letter. “However, it is now evident that some activities related to the elimination of the chemical weapons program of the Syrian Arab Republic will continue beyond 30 June 2014.” |
| Syria’s critics, led by the United States, have repeatedly complained in recent months that Mr. Assad is procrastinating in his promise to dismantle the arsenal. The Syrian government has said that the civil war makes safe transit of all the chemical materials out of the country too difficult to complete quickly. | Syria’s critics, led by the United States, have repeatedly complained in recent months that Mr. Assad is procrastinating in his promise to dismantle the arsenal. The Syrian government has said that the civil war makes safe transit of all the chemical materials out of the country too difficult to complete quickly. |
| Still, missing the final deadline was likely to further anger the Obama administration, which had trumpeted Syria’s pledge to ban chemical weapons as a victory of diplomacy that avoided a direct American military entanglement in the Syria conflict, now in its fourth year. | Still, missing the final deadline was likely to further anger the Obama administration, which had trumpeted Syria’s pledge to ban chemical weapons as a victory of diplomacy that avoided a direct American military entanglement in the Syria conflict, now in its fourth year. |
| President Obama, who repeatedly warned he would not abide the use of chemical arms in Syria, had threatened airstrikes after an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs. But he withdrew the threat after an agreement was negotiated by the United States and Russia, and later unanimously adopted by the Security Council, obliging Syria to join the international treaty that bans chemical weapons and destroy the arsenal by June 30. | President Obama, who repeatedly warned he would not abide the use of chemical arms in Syria, had threatened airstrikes after an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs. But he withdrew the threat after an agreement was negotiated by the United States and Russia, and later unanimously adopted by the Security Council, obliging Syria to join the international treaty that bans chemical weapons and destroy the arsenal by June 30. |
| It had become increasingly clear that the complete destruction of Syria’s chemical arsenal would probably not be completed by the deadline. But officials from the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which have been jointly overseeing the destruction, had been saying the deadline was still possible to meet. | It had become increasingly clear that the complete destruction of Syria’s chemical arsenal would probably not be completed by the deadline. But officials from the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which have been jointly overseeing the destruction, had been saying the deadline was still possible to meet. |
| Mr. Ban’s letter was the first written admission that the process would extend into July. | Mr. Ban’s letter was the first written admission that the process would extend into July. |
| The letter, first reported Wednesday by Reuters, said that in consultation with Ahmet Uzumcu, the director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the joint mission would “continue its work for a finite period of time beyond 30 June 2014, during which most of the remaining activities for the elimination of the chemical weapons program of the Syrian Arab Republic should be completed.” | The letter, first reported Wednesday by Reuters, said that in consultation with Ahmet Uzumcu, the director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the joint mission would “continue its work for a finite period of time beyond 30 June 2014, during which most of the remaining activities for the elimination of the chemical weapons program of the Syrian Arab Republic should be completed.” |
| Mr. Ban’s letter also said he was “very concerned” about the suspected use of chlorine gas bombs in Syria and was eagerly awaiting the results of a fact-finding mission of experts that he and Mr. Uzumcu had ordered. That mission’s convoy came under attack on Tuesday and had to abort its trip to a village in central Syria where, according to the Syrian opposition, Mr. Assad’s military has dropped barrels filled with poisonous chlorine on civilians. Syria has denied the accusation. | Mr. Ban’s letter also said he was “very concerned” about the suspected use of chlorine gas bombs in Syria and was eagerly awaiting the results of a fact-finding mission of experts that he and Mr. Uzumcu had ordered. That mission’s convoy came under attack on Tuesday and had to abort its trip to a village in central Syria where, according to the Syrian opposition, Mr. Assad’s military has dropped barrels filled with poisonous chlorine on civilians. Syria has denied the accusation. |
| Earlier Wednesday, Mr. Uzumcu’s organization stated that the attack on the convoy had been more extensive than first reported. A statement on the group’s website said the experts had been attacked twice, first with a roadside bomb that disabled their lead vehicle, and then in an ambush by gunmen as the experts were retreating in two other vehicles. The episode violated a local cease-fire between the government and insurgents. | |
| The gunmen shot up one of the vehicles with automatic weapons and briefly detained the experts, who were released after the interventions of the insurgent group that had negotiated the cease-fire. The experts were unhurt and returned safely to Damascus, but a driver in their convoy suffered minor injuries. | The gunmen shot up one of the vehicles with automatic weapons and briefly detained the experts, who were released after the interventions of the insurgent group that had negotiated the cease-fire. The experts were unhurt and returned safely to Damascus, but a driver in their convoy suffered minor injuries. |
| It was unclear from the statement who among the antagonists in the war was responsible for foiling the investigators, who were trying to reach Kafr Zeita, a village in Hama Province. The government and opposition each blamed the other. | It was unclear from the statement who among the antagonists in the war was responsible for foiling the investigators, who were trying to reach Kafr Zeita, a village in Hama Province. The government and opposition each blamed the other. |