| And destroyed they will remain, until Iran or Russia or North Korea sees fit to replace them, not to mention the equipment to make more. |
"Now 7.2 percent of Syria's chemical weapons material remains in country and awaits swift removal for onward destruction. The joint mission urges the Syrian authorities to undertake this task as soon as possible," the statement added.
Under a U.S.-Russian deal negotiated last year, Syria signed up to the Chemical Weapons Convention and agreed to hand over its entire chemical weapons arsenal by June 30 of this year.
The deal came after a sarin attack in August killed some 1,400 people in an opposition-held area near Damascus.
While the opposition and its Western backers blamed forces loyal to
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
, his government and its Russian ally blamed the rebels.
The agreement headed off a U.S. threat of military action.
Assad's regime now faces new Western allegations that it unleashed the industrial chemical chlorine on a rebel-held village in central Hama province last month.
Syria was not required to declare its stockpile of chlorine -- a toxic but weak agent -- as it is widely used for commercial and domestic purposes.
But its use for military purposes would be a breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the OPCW announced a fact-finding mission last month.