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Syria’s last chemical weapons production facility to be destroyed by year end — UN

A total of 12 chemical weapons production facilities in Syria included seven hangars and five underground facilities

© EPA/LUCIE PARSAGHIAN

UNITED NATIONS, November 11. /TASS/. Syria’s last chemical weapons production facility is planned to be destroyed by the end of the year, Kim Won-soo, UN Under Secretary-General and Acting High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, told TASS after a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

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The 11th facility - a hangar - has been destroyed, and the last hangar is being prepared for liquidation. The destruction work is going ahead as planned, he said, adding that the process is expected to be completed "before the end of the year."

Kim Won-soo also said that preparations for the launch of a joint mechanism of the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which will take up the investigation of cases of combat use of chemical agents in Syria, are coming to an end. The UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) is likely to begin the work as early as next Friday, he said.

A total of 12 chemical weapons production facilities in Syria included seven hangars and five underground facilities. In recent months, the last two hangars were inaccessible because of the security situation.

The UN Security Council on August 7 unanimously adopted Resolution 2235 on the creation of a mechanism which would identify "to the greatest extent feasible" individuals, entities, groups or Governments perpetrating, organising, sponsoring or otherwise involved in the use of chemicals as weapons in Syria. On September 10, the recommendations of the UN Secretary-General related to the structure and organisation of the mission’s work were approved. The mission is expected to have a limited presence in Syria for security reasons.

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Syria United Nations Chemical weapons

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