NATO Offers Help in Removing Syria's Chemical Weapons

BRUSSELS, December 4 (RIA Novosti) – NATO will aid the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in its ongoing effort to remove Syria's stockpile of poisonous gases, if a request for assistance is made, the head of the Atlantic alliance said Wednesday.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen made the remarks following a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels.

“We welcome all support provided by the NATO-Russia Council member states to the OPCW-UN Joint Mission and stand ready to consider further assistance to the OPCW-UN Joint Mission if requested,” NATO said in a statement on its website.

Russia and the United States agreed a plan in September for the disposal of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles after a series of alleged chemical attacks by government forces on civilians.

Elimination of Chemical Weapons in the World

© Sputnik

A suitable site for disposal of the chemical weapons stocks is yet to be found. An initial proposal to carry out the work in Albania had to be abandoned following mass protests.

According to US military intelligence reports compiled prior to the outbreak of civil war, Syria has around 1,000 tons of various chemical weapons, including mustard gas and the lethal nerve agents VX and Sarin.