Dangerous Syrian chemicals in inaccessible area

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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The head of the mission charged
with destroying Syria’s chemical weapons said Thursday the last 16
containers of dangerous chemical agents that need to be transported out
of the country are in a contested area not far from Damascus that is
currently inaccessible.
Sigrid Kaag appealed to countries with
influence on armed groups fighting in Syria to help arrange unfettered
access for experts to the site at a military air base and safe transport
for the chemicals to the port of Latakia, where Danish and Norwegian
ships are waiting to take the containers to a U.S. vessel for
destruction.
Kaag spoke to reporters after briefing the U.N.
Security Council and said in an interview later with The Associated
Press that the 16 containers — representing 8 percent of Syria’s
declared stockpile — contain material to produce the deadly nerve agent
sarin as well as other dangerous chemical agents.
She said it
would take "less than a working week" to pack the most dangerous
chemicals into five containers and the less toxic chemicals into 11
containers, put them on a convoy, and get them to Latakia.
But it’s not possible at the moment to arrange a cease-fire and get to the large military airfield by
road.
Kaag
said two other sites in the vicinity of the air base where chemical
agents had been stored have been taken over by armed opposition groups.
There are no chemicals at the two sites now, she said.
But the
Syrian government moved chemicals from one of the sites to the air base,
known as Site 2, as a preventive measure and now they are part of the
material that cannot be moved safely, she said.
Kaag said the
armed groups around the military base, which is guarded, are "the more
extreme kind," adding that "global jihad has come to Syria."
The
international effort to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons was sparked
by a chemical weapons attack near Damascus last Aug. 21 that killed
hundreds of people.
It was blamed on the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, which denied involvement.
Under
an agreement brokered by the United States and Russia, the Syrian
government is responsible for getting the most dangerous chemicals to
the port, and destroying the rest inside the country.
The April 27 deadline has already been missed.
"Obviously the issue is that the materials leave the country as soon as possible," Kaag said.

She
said the Syrians have "indicated to us that military operations may be
under way or are under way to address the situation" near the base and
reopen the roads.
"From their perspective, it is something that
needs to happen because it is an important route, and it’s not far from
Damascus," she said.
In the meantime, Kaag is urging Syrian
authorities to fly in teams to prepare the chemicals for shipment, which
includes putting them in barrels and packing them in accordance with
international maritime hazardous goods standards.
This would
underline Syria’s "intent to finish the job," she said, and if the roads
are opened soon it would allow the government "to stay as close to the
June 30 deadline as possible" for the total elimination of its chemical
weapons, she said.
Kaag, who heads a joint mission of the U.N. and
the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said one
question raised by many Security Council members at the closed meeting
was the status of the investigation it called for into reports of
alleged chlorine gas use in some Syrian towns, causing deaths and
injuries.
She said a delegation from the OPCW, which monitors
implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, is now in Damascus on
a fact-finding mission. Syria ratified the convention last year as part
of the deal to eliminate its chemical weapons.
In response to a
request from the OPCW, Kaag said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has
authorized the U.N. to provide logistical and security assistance for
the delegation.
Britain’s deputy U.N. ambassador Peter Wilson told
reporters the allegations of chlorine gas use "are very serious" and
"it is extremely important that the OPCW investigates those
allegations."
The government and opposition have denied using chlorine, which is not a banned chemical subject to
destruction.
At
the council meeting, diplomats said other issues were also raised,
including whether Syria has declared all its chemical agents, its
failure to destroy 12 facilities that produced chemicals, whether the
June 30 deadline can realistically be met, and whether the joint mission
will end its work on that date. They spoke on condition of anonymity
because the discussions were private.
Kaag said the joint mission
is working with Syria on "discrepancies" in its declaration, and she
said negotiations are taking place between Syria and the OPCW, assisted
by the United States and Russia, on destruction of the 12 facilities.
Wilson
said Britain believes that "until we have complete confidence that the
chemical weapons have been removed from use in Syria the joint mission
still has work to do."

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