UN chief hails removal of Syria's chemical weapons

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the removal of the remaining 7.2 per cent of chemical weapons material from Syria, Anadolu news agency reported.

In a statement issued by his spokesman yesterday, the secretary-general congratulated the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (UN- OPCW) for completing “this most challenging of tasks” in an active war zone.

The UN- OPCW announced today that it had removed 100 per cent of the declared chemical weapons material in Syria.

Ban Ki-moon expressed gratitude to the governments of the People’s Republic of China, Denmark, Norway, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States, which provided vital resources and support for the mission.

He also expressed appreciation for the role of the Republic of Cyprus and the Republic of Lebanon.

Ban Ki-moon also thanked the Italian government for providing a port to load part of the cargo while the rest of the chemical weapons material will be transferred to various facilities.

The secretary-general also welcomed the cooperation shown by the government of the Syrian Arab Republic in providing assistance to the joint mission to carry out its functions.

He said: “I have expressed many times profound distress at the great tragedy that has befallen Syria and its people. The successful implementation of the joint mission task shows us that when there is political will, there can be progress towards peace.”