The last of Syria´s declared chemical agents have been shipped from the war-torn country after months of delays and are en route for destruction at sea, the world´s chemical watchdog said.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the news and said, “the successful completion of such a tricky exercise showed that, when there was the political will, there can be progress towards peace”.
Speaking in New York, he praised several countries for their role, including China, Russia, Britain and the United States as well as Syria itself
.”As we speak, the ship (carrying the last chemicals) has just left the port (of Latakia),” Ahmet Uzumcu, head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, told journalists Monday in The Hague, where the OPCW is based.
“Removing the stockpile of precursor and other chemicals has been a fundamental condition in the programme to eliminate Syria´s chemical weapons,” Uzumcu said.
