Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Moscow, SANA – Syria is going ahead with the program to complete the destruction of the chemical materials production facilities, Deputy Foreign and Expatriates Minister Fayssal Mikdad asserted.
“The delay in accomplishing the program is caused by the UN,” Mikdad added, speaking in a statement to the Russian Sputnik news agency.
He stated that the destruction of underground bunkers that were used for the production of chemical materials is almost done with, stressing that three bunkers were already demolished and a forth one is being worked at.
As far as hangars are concerned, Mikdad said, their destruction need specific equipment that is being imported by the Senior Management Group of the UN General Secretariat.
“Such being the case, any delay is not due to us but to the UN and the bodies that are working with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW),” he added, referring to the organization which Syria joined in October, 2013.
“We hope to finish the destruction of bunkers shortly and before the deadline,” said Mikdad.
Early February, the OPCW welcomed the dismantling of an underground facility used to produce chemical materials in Syria that was completed on December 31, 2014.
Syria has showed strong commitment to its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention, having announced and destroyed sites and facilities used for production and storage of chemical materials.
This commitment has been appreciated by Head of the OPCW-UN joint mission Sigrid Kaag on many occasions, one of which was during her visit to Syria last September on which she hailed the Syrian government’s “productive” and “fruitful” cooperation with the mission.
Kaag then said that the unprecedented accomplishment of the mission wouldn’t have been possible without the cooperation of the Syrian authorities.
Haifa Said
