Syria disarmament team launches mission

The operation to rid Syria of chemical weapons by mid-2014 will be one of the largest and most dangerous of its kind

A chemical disarmament team crossed into Syria today to begin the daunting task of inventorying the country's arsenal of the banned weapons in readiness for its destruction.

The team from the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons arrived in Syria a day after the departure of a team of UN inspectors, who had been investigating a series of alleged chemical attacks.

Syria's information minister meanwhile insisted that President Bashar al-Assad would stay in office and that he had the option to run for another term in elections next year.

Assad's departure is a key demand of the opposition, who insist it must be a pillar of a mooted peace conference in Geneva.

The team of 20 inspectors from The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is implementing a UN resolution ordering the elimination of Syria's arsenal.

The operation to rid Syria of chemical weapons by a target date of mid-2014 will be one of the largest and most dangerous of its kind.

The arsenal is believed to include more than 1,000 tonnes of sarin, mustard gas and other banned chemicals stored at an estimated 45 sites across the war-torn country.

The outgoing UN team of chemical weapons experts is probing seven alleged gas attacks and hopes to present a final report by late October.

Earlier this month it submitted an interim report that confirmed the use of the nerve agent sarin in August 21 attacks on the outskirts of Damascus.

The United States threatened military action in response, accusing forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of deliberately killing hundreds of civilians with rocket-delivered nerve agents.

Syria denied the allegations but agreed to relinquish its chemical arsenal, effectively heading off a strike, under a US-Russian deal which was enshrined in the landmark UN resolution.

The OPCW team arrived in Beirut yesterday before crossing into Syria. It is unable to fly to Damascus because the road between the airport and the city is the scene of frequent fighting.