Although the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) decided on March 2014 as the deadline for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons, the OPCW has pushed back that deadline due to some delays in the chemical weapons’ transportation.
Reuters reports that these weapons were originally scheduled to be transported to Norwegian ships by Russian trucks by Jan. 31, but with unexpected delays such as road construction and battle lines, the trucks never met their destination.
The head of the OPCW, Ahmet Uzumcu, said that he is confident that the new deadline can be met. “From my point of view what is important is really the end of June 2014, so we will do our best to meet it,” he said.
According to the OPCW, the Italian Government has agreed to transport these weapons through the port of Gioia Tauro, where the U.S. ship, the MV Cape Ray will transport them to the Atlantic and neutralize them as originally planned.
Photo Courtesy of WikiMedia Commons
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