Tag Archives: Syria
4 December 2013
A Danish cargo vessel is due to load Syria’s chemical arms stockpile and transfer it to a US ship in early January 2014. The plan, which has not yet been finalised, has been drawn up by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The Guardian reports that it is not yet clear whether the transfer between the two ships of about 500 tonnes of lethal chemicals, including nerve agents, will be done at sea or when both vessels are docked, and that both options have serious challenges. So far, no Mediterranean port has agreed to host the transfer on land.
Source: The Guardian | Syria's chemical weapons to be shipped in delicate US-Danish operation
20 November 2013
The New York Times reports that the United States is considering plans to place the chemical components of the weapons on a barge at sea where they would be dissolved or incinerated.
Officials from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is operating in Syria to locate and identify the weapons, would monitor the destruction, which would be carried out following safety standards set by legislation in the United States and the European Union. By destroying the weapons in international waters, the effort would not require approval by any particular country.
Earlier, Albania and Norway turned down an appeal by the United States to destroy the weapons on its territory. A US official said that the United States has not given up on finding a country that would accept the 1,000 tons of precursors and other chemicals in Syria’s arsenal.
Source: The New York Times | Options Narrowed, U.S. Is Said to Weigh Destroying Syrian Chemicals at Sea
15 November 2013
Saudi Arabia is planning to build a new national army for the Syrian opposition, aiming to create a force trained outside of Syria that is capable of defeating the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and countering the growth of jihadist rebel groups affiliated with al-Qaeda.
According to Saudi insiders, training involving some 5,000 rebels had already been under way in Jordan for several months with the aid of Pakistani, French, and US instructors, although Jordanian sources suggest a much lower number. Saudi Arabia reportedly plans to build a rebel army of 40,000–50,000 at a cost of ‘several billion dollars’. A high-level Saudi delegation visited Paris in October to negotiate contracts for arming and equipping both the Free Syrian Army and the new national army.
According to Yezid Sayigh, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center, competition for external funding is a powerful driver of organisational dynamics within Syria’s armed rebellion. Not all of that support comes from government sources however, private donors in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates also sponsor rebel groups of their choice.
Source: Carnegie Middle East Center | Unifying Syria’s Rebels: Saudi Arabia Joins the Fray
27 October 2013
On Friday 25 October, Norway declined a request to help destroy Syria’s chemical arsenal. The reasons for the refusal of Norway were constraints of the regulatory framework as well as the time pressure for the destruction of the weapons. The United States keeps trying to identify states that can assist in the destruction of the chemical weapons.
Source: The New York Times | Norway Rejects U.S. Request to Help Destroy Syrian Chemical Weapons
23 October 2013
According to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, the United Nations has asked Norway to eliminate Syrian chemical weapons. According to news reports this follows up on an earlier request made by Russia and the United States.
The Jerusalem Post had a story on this 20 days ago, see here.
Source: The Washington Post | Norway mulls taking and destroying the bulk of Syria’s chemical arsenal