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Syria misses chemical weapons handover deadline

06 February 2014 04:35 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Syria on Wednesday missed a deadline to hand over all the toxic materials it declared to the world's chemical weapons watchdog, putting the program several weeks behind schedule and jeopardizing a final June 30 deadline, APA reports quoting Reuters.

At the same time, opposition activists say the Syrian air force is attacking the country's biggest city, Aleppo, with barrel bombs, forcing many to flee. Turkey was turning away some of those refugees because camps were now full.

Under a deal reached in October between Russia and the United States, which helped avert a U.S.-led missile strike against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, Syria agreed to give up its entire stockpile of chemical weapons by February 5.

Russia said on Tuesday its ally Damascus would ship more chemicals soon, but Western diplomats said they saw no indications that further shipments were pending.

Syria has said it would submit a handover timetable to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, but gave no indication of when that would happen.

There have been no shipments since January 27 and the latest deadline was missed, said OPCW spokesman Michael Luhan. "It's a status quo until we get this plan."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said there were indications chemical weapons shipments were "now speeding up again" following international pressure.

"We are now getting indications there will be a target date, specifically, to meet it, that they're accelerating, that they understand the world is really watching this," Kerry said in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper.

Kerry denied that Assad had shown advances on the battleground since the chemical weapons deal was struck.

"I would describe the situation simply that Assad is not winning, but he's also not losing. It's sort of a stalemate at this moment," Kerry said, pointing at increased support for Assad from Iran and Hezbollah.

He rejected criticism from Republican lawmakers that Assad's failure to meet the chemical weapons deadline showed that the U.S. policy on Syria had failed.

"No, the policy in Syria is just very challenging and very difficult," he said, adding: "Before we got that agreement, Assad was using those weapons against his people. Now he's not and he can't.".

Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Meqdad said on Wednesday Syria was trying to meet its obligations.

"Syria is proceeding with all determination, strength and credibility to fully implement the agreements with the U.N.-OPCW," the Syrian national news agency SANA quoted him as saying.

View galleryA U.N. chemical weapons expert holds a plastic bag …

A U.N. chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one …

In an apparent reference to clearing a road through disputed territory to the northern port of Latakia for shipment abroad, Meqdad said "there can be no leniency at all when it comes to transporting chemical weapons out of Syria."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was worried that the chemical weapons handover was behind schedule, and British diplomats said they planned to raise the matter at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday.

"Britain will continue to put pressure on all parties to make sure the chemical weapons are produced and destroyed," Cameron told parliament in London.