Syria Chemical Disarmament Progressing Steadily: Ban Ki-Moon
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised steady progress in Syria's chemical disarmament despite a "limited delay" in moving the most dangerous chemical warfare agents out the country by the December 31 deadline.
"The Secretary-General stresses that the international effort to eliminate the chemical weapons program of the Syrian Arab Republic continues to make effective progress, as demonstrated by the steady achievements in meeting all previous milestones in the past three months," Ban’s official spokesman Martin Nesirky said in a statement.
Meanwhile the United Nations acknowledged Saturday that Syria is "unlikely" to meet a December 31 deadline to transport its most dangerous chemical arms out of the country.
The UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said "important progress" has been made on Syria's banned weapons, but called on President Bashar al-Assad's government to "intensify efforts" to meet internationally set deadlines to eliminate its arsenal, Voice of Russia reported.
