Chemical Arms Team Begins First Syria Mission since Nobel Win, Doubles Team
Experts tasked with dismantling Syria's chemical weapons arsenal headed out for their first mission on Friday since their organization was named winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) members left their Damascus hotel in six vehicles for an unknown location to pursue their mission begun when they arrived in war-torn Syria on October 1.
In the afternoon, a U.N. statement said the United Nations and the OPCW have doubled the number of experts working to eliminate Syria's banned arms.
The team has increased this week from about 30 Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons experts and U.N. support staff to 60, said a statement released.
The team "has made good progress in verifying the information submitted" by the Syrian government.
"At the end of the first 10 days of operations on the ground the verification teams have inspected three sites and plans are underway for further site visits," said the statement.
"As OPCW has received initial and supplementary information from Syria on its chemical weapons program, the advance team is now in the process of verifying that information. It has also overseen the destruction by Syria of some of its munitions stockpile, as well as some of its chemical weapons production equipment."
The OPCW was sent to Syria after a chemical weapons attack near Damascus in August sparked an international crisis that led to a U.S. threat of a military strike.
The crisis was defused by a U.N. Security Council backed disarmament plan drawn up by Russia and the United States and accepted by Syria's President Bashar Assad.
Source: Agence France Presse
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