industryterm:chemical weapons arsenal

#syria hand over remaining chemical weapon stockpile, Pentagon says
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria-hand-over-remaining-chemical-weapon-stockpile-pentagon-says

Syria is starting to relinquish the remaining stockpile of materials from its #chemical_weapons arsenal after months of delay it blamed on security concerns, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. “It is starting to be moved as we speak,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters. The news followed an announcement by the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemicals that Syria had destroyed its entire declared stockpile of isopropanol, a precursor for producing sarin nerve gas. read more

As deadline expires, #syria still holds 8 percent of its #chemical_weapons arsenal
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/deadline-expires-syria-still-holds-8-percent-its-chemical-weapons

Syria still holds nearly eight percent of its chemical weapons arsenal as the deadline expired Sunday for it to be handed over, the task force charged with the operation said. “We are talking of the remaining 7.8 percent chemical weapons material that is currently still in country in one particular site,” Sigrid Kaag, head of the combined Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-UN task team, told a news conference. read more

#OPCW #Top_News

#OPCW fails to reach agreement on #syria #chemical_weapons delay
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/opcw-fails-reach-agreement-syria-chemical-weapons-delay

The executive council of the Hague-based watchdog tasked with destroying Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal failed Friday to reach agreement on what to do about Damascus’s delays, because of divisions between Syria’s allies and the West. Different sources close to the talks at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said China, Iran and Russia wanted flexibility over the timetable, but the United States and the European Union insisted on being strict. So far, just 11 percent of Syria’s 1,200 tons of dangerous chemicals have been taken out of the country. read more

#Top_News

Syrian chemicals removal likely not completed before June: #UN
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/18254

The removal and destruction of the most dangerous agents in #syria's #chemical_weapons arsenal may not be completed until the end of June, the head of the UN chemicals watchdog said on Thursday. Ahmet Uzumcu, who is in Rome to brief Italian authorities, told reporters the amount of chemicals that have reached a Syrian port so far was “not that high.” The destruction of chemical weapons began under the terms of a UN resolution that enshrined a US-Russian agreement for President Bashar al-Assad’s government to turn over its chemical weapons for destruction. read more

#Top_News

“Security Arc” forms amidst Mideast terror
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/sandbox/security-arc-forms-amidst-mideast-terror

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/security-map.jpg

Many observers are correct in noting that the Middle East is undergoing yet another seismic shift - that the Russian-brokered destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal, a US-Iranian rapprochement, the diminished strategic value of Saudi Arabia and Israel, and a US withdrawal from Afghanistan will all contribute to changing regional dynamics considerably.

Map of ’Security Arc’ by S. Narwani, E. Adaime, A. Amacha Map of ’Security Arc’ by S. Narwani, E. Adaime, A. Amacha

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“Security Arc” forms amidst Mideast terror
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/sandbox/security-arc-forms-amidst-mideast-terror-0

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/security-arc-map.jpg

Many observers are correct in noting that the Middle East is undergoing yet another seismic shift - that the Russian-brokered destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal, a US-Iranian rapprochement, the diminished strategic value of Saudi Arabia and Israel, and a US withdrawal from Afghanistan will all contribute to changing regional dynamics considerably.

Map of ’Security Arc’ by S. Narwani, E. Adaime, A. Amacha Map of ’Security Arc’ by S. Narwani, E. Adaime, A. Amacha

read more

#US and #Russia come to agreement on #syria chemical weapons
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/us-and-russia-start-third-day-talks-syria-chemical-weapons

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/204439-01-08.jpg

Syrians hold banners and flags during a sit-in protest against a foreign military action on Syria on 13 September 2013 in Damascus. (Photo: AFP - Anwar Amro)

Updated at 2:40pm: The United States and Russia have agreed on a proposal to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday after nearly three days of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Kerry said that, under the pact, Syria must submit a (...)

#Top_News

CIA document from 1983 indicates Israel built chemical weapons stockpile -
Haaretz, Sep. 10, 2013
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.546282

A newly discovered CIA document indicates that Israel likely built up its own chemical weapons arsenal.

Intelligence circles in Washington believe that Israel amassed a stockpile of chemical and biological weapons decades ago to complement its alleged nuclear arsenal, Foreign Policy reported Monday on its website.

Information about Israel’s chemical weapons production appears in a secret 1983 CIA intelligence estimate obtained by Foreign Policy.

American spy satellites in 1982 uncovered “a probable CW (chemical weapon) nerve agent production facility and a storage facility… at the Dimona Sensitive Storage Area in the Negev Desert,” the CIA document reported. “Other CW production is believed to exist within a well-developed Israeli chemical industry.

“While we cannot confirm whether the Israelis possess lethal chemical agents, several indicators lead us to believe that they have available to them at least persistent and nonpersistent nerve agents, a mustard agent, and several riot-control agents, marched with suitable delivery systems.”

It is not known whether Israel still maintains the chemical weapons, according to Foreign Policy.

In 1992, the Israeli government signed but never ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans such weapons.

The report, which was declassified in 2009, mostly deals with allegations of Soviet use of chemical and biological weapons in Afghanistan and Southeast Asia. Sections on the Middle East were largely deleted by government censors.

The document has come to light as the Syrian government has accepted a Russian proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control to avoid a possible U.S. military strike.