Syria's declared equipment for
producing, mixing and filling chemical
weapons has been destroyed, the
international watchdog says.
This comes a day before the deadline
set by the Organisation for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
(OPCW).
The weapons have been placed under
seal, an OPCW spokesman said.
Inspectors were sent to Syria
following allegations, denied by the
government, that its forces had used
chemical weapons in civilian areas.
The inspections were agreed between
Russia and the US after Washington
threatened to use force in Syria.
Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal
Mekdad told the BBC's Lyse Doucet
that it had not been difficult for Syria's
government to meet its obligations, as
some had initially feared.
"I hope those who have always
thought of us negatively will change
their minds and understand that Syria
was, is, and will be always a
constructive partner," Mr Mekdad told
our correspondent.
Now that the equipment has been put
beyond use, Syria has until mid-2014
to destroy the chemical weapons
themselves.
Its arsenal is believed to include more
than 1,000 tonnes of the nerve gas
sarin, the blister agent sulphur
mustard and other banned chemicals,
stored at dozens of sites.
In a separate development, a large
explosion at a Syrian army base has
been reported outside the coastal city
of Latakia.
Local media say the base was
targeted by Israeli forces but this has
not been confirmed.
Israel is believed to have targeted the
same base in July and is concerned
that some weapons in Syria are being
moved to Hezbollah militants in
neighbouring Lebanon.
'Challenging job'
OPCW head of field operations Jerry
Smith told the BBC that his team had
"personally observed all the
destruction activities".
"They are not now in a position to
conduct any further production or
mixing of chemical weapons," he said.
In a statement, the OPCW said its
teams had inspected 21 of the 23
chemical weapons sites in Syria.
The other two were too dangerous to
visit but the equipment had already
been moved to some of the other
sites, it said.
Mr Smith said that verifying the
destruction of Syria's weapons
production capability had been a
"particularly challenging job" because
it had to be done in the midst of a
conflict, with a tight deadline.
The OPCW earlier this month won the
Nobel Peace Prize but Mr Smith said
his team had been too busy to
celebrate because of their work in
Syria.
"All stocks of chemical weapons and
agents have been placed under seals
that are impossible to break," OPCW
spokesman Christian Chartier told the
AFP news agency.
"These are 1,000 tonnes of chemical
agents [which can be used to make
weapons] and 290 tonnes of chemical
weapons," he said.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says the
OPCW's task is far from finished.
More than 1,000 tonnes of chemical
precursors - the raw materials -
remain to be removed and destroyed
by the middle of next year, which our
correspondent says will be a delicate
and difficult process.
The first step is for the weapons
watchdog and the Syrian government
to agree a timetable for the
destruction of the chemical weapons
stockpile - this should be done within
the next two weeks.
The US says more than 1,400 people
were killed when government forces
used a nerve agent to attack Ghouta
on the outskirts of Damascus on 21
August.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and
his Russian allies have said rebel
groups were responsible.
The OPCW announcement comes as
human rights group Amnesty
International says that hundreds of
Syrian refugees are being turned
away at the borders of Jordan and
other countries.
Jordan has denied the accusation,
saying its border is open to Syrian
refugees.
More than 100,000 people have been
killed in the fighting that has ravaged
Syria for two-and-a-half years,
according to the UN.
A further two million people have fled
Syria and some 4.5 million have been
displaced internally.
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