Advertisement
World & Nation

Syria unlikely to meet deadline on its deadliest chemical agents

1/21
A wounded Syrian woman walks with her children after airstrikes on a rebel area of the war-torn northern city of Aleppo.  (Mohammed al-Khatieb / AFP/ Getty Images)
2/21
Mourners attend a funeral for men killed during battles with members of the Al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.   (Mahmud Al-Halabi / AFP/ Getty Images)
3/21
Rebel fighters carry a man’s body at the Aleppo headquarters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria after he was allegedly killed by the AlQaeda-linked group in January.  (Medo Halab / AFP/ Getty Images)
4/21
A Syrian man helps an injured resident following an airstrike in Aleppo’s Maadi neighborhood.   (Mohammed al-Khatieb / AFP/ Getty Images)
5/21
A Syrian man reacts after an airstrike by government forces on the city of Aleppo.  (Mohammed al-Khatieb / AFP/ Getty Images)
6/21
Rebel fighters inside a building during clashes with pro-government forces in the Sheikh al-Said neighborhood of Syria’s northern city of Aleppo.  (Medo Halab / AFP/ Getty Images)
7/21
An opposition fighter runs through a hole in a wall to avoid sniper fire by regime forces during clashes in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo.  (KARAM AL-MASRI / AFP/Getty Images)
8/21
Opposition fighters open fire from behind a car during fighting in the Salaheddin district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fierce fighting in Damascus province between rebels and troops backed by pro-regime militias and fighters from Lebanon’s Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah.  (KARAM AL-MASRI / AFP/Getty Images)
9/21
A Syrian rebel aims his weapon during clashes with government forces in the streets near Aleppo international airport in northern Syria.  (Stephen J. Boitano / AFP/ Getty Images)
10/21
Rebel fighters duck as they run behind a barricade to avoid being fired at by Syrian government forces in the Old City of Aleppo.   (JM Lopez / AFP/ Getty Images)
11/21
A fighter allied with Syrian President Bashar Assad runs across the street after fighting with rebels in the Yarmouk refugee camp in the capital, Damascus.  (Anwar Amro / AFP/ Getty Images)
12/21
A fighter of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command, allied with Syrian President Bashar Assad, jumps through the window of a destroyed building in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus.  (Anwar Amro / AFP/ Getty Images)
13/21
An opposition fighter runs in front of a sniper curtain in the industrial area of Syria’s eastern town of Deir Ezzor during clashes with government forces.  (Abo Shuja / AFP/ Getty Images)
14/21
Free Syrian Army fighters clean their weapons and check ammunition at their base on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria.   (Khalil Hamra / Associated Press)
15/21
Syrian government forces patrol the Khaldiyeh district of Syria’s central city of Homs. The Syrian government announced on July 29 the capture of Khaldiyeh, a key rebel district in Homs.  (Joseph Eid / AFP/Getty Images)
16/21
A Syrian national flag is waved in Damascus to show support for President Bashar Assad.   (Louai Beshara / AFP/Getty Images)
17/21
A rebel fighter takes aim at regime forces in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.  (Louai Abo Al-Jod / AFP/Getty Images)
18/21
A man stands near destroyed buildings after reported airstrikes by Syrian government forces in the rebel-held northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.  (Abu Amar Al-Taftanaz / AFP/Getty Images)
19/21
Mustafa Abu Bekir, 23, second from left, meets relatives after crossing the Turkish Cilvegozu gate border. Abu Bekir said he was severely wounded by a bomb dropped from a Syrian army warplane while fighting with the Free Syrian Army in Idlib.   (Gregorio Borgia / Associated Press)
20/21
A man carries a boy who was severely wounded during heavy fighting between Syrian rebels and troops last year in Idlib.  (Rodrigo Abd / Associated Press)
21/21
Syrian President Bashar Assad arrives at a dinner event in Damascus on the last week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.   (Virginie Nguyen Hoang / AFP/Getty Images)
By Paul Richter
Share

WASHINGTON — Syria has delivered less than 5% of its deadliest chemical weapons agents to international authorities a week before a deadline to surrender the entire cache, officials said Wednesday.

The government of President Bashar Assad, which is fighting a bitter civil war against insurgent militias, has transferred about 32 tons of the so-called Category 1 chemical agents to the Syrian port of Latakia, where it has been loaded onto ships for destruction at sea.

But about 670 tons remain in collection points, and officials say it is unlikely that Syria will meet the Feb. 5 deadline.

Advertisement

After President Obama threatened to launch punitive attacks on Syrian forces last August to retaliate for a deadly poison gas attack on rebel strongholds, Assad agreed to give up his entire chemical weapons arsenal to international weapons inspectors by June 30, starting with the most dangerous materials.

Experts warned that the schedule might be overly ambitious given the fighting and instability in Syria. But the delay in surrendering the deadliest stockpiles has raised questions about whether Syria is dragging its feet, perhaps to test international resolve.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged this week that Syria was behind schedule, and urged the Assad government to “intensify its efforts to expedite in-country movements of chemical weapons material and continue to meet its obligations.”

The Obama administration has held out the elimination of Syria’s poison gas threat as a significant accomplishment, although international efforts to halt the Syrian civil war have made little progress.

President Obama cited the program Tuesday in his State of the Union address, saying “American diplomacy, backed by the threat of force, is why Syria’s chemical weapons are being eliminated.”

State Department officials declined to comment on the progress.

Some veteran weapons inspectors have warned all along that Assad might try to retain some of the stockpiles despite his pledges. The Syrian arsenal, one of the largest in the world, included mustard gas, a blister agent, and sarin, a nerve gas, at several dozen sites.

Advertisement

In addition to the Category 1 chemical agents, Syria also declared 500 tons of less dangerous precursor chemicals and 122 tons of isopropanol, a solvent widely used in industry.

The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is overseeing the collection and destruction of the chemical weapons along with the U.N., is scheduled to consider Syria’s performance when its executive council meets Thursday.

paul.richter@latimes.com

More to Read

World & Nation
Paul Richter

Paul Richter covered the State Department and foreign policy for the Los Angeles Times out of its Washington, D.C., bureau. He previously covered the Pentagon, the White House and, from New York City, the financial industry. He was raised in Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., and graduated from Clark University. He left The Times in 2015.

More From the Los Angeles Times

Advertisement