REPORT: Chemical weapons watchdog says to send more inspectors to Syria

Syrian state television released footage on Tuesday showing international weapons inspectors examining a chemical plant at an unknown location.         

Inspectors can be seen in the footage examining switches at the plant and taking samples from the outside of what appear to be chemical containers.              

Earlier on Tuesday teams of weapons inspectors were seen leaving their Damascus hotel in several UN-marked vehicles.                     

It was not clear where they were headed and what their task for the day was.                     

Meanwhile, the global chemical weapons watchdog said on Tuesday it would send more inspectors to Syria to help destroy President Bashar al-Assad's vast stockpile of toxic munitions.           

The head of the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Ahmet Uzumcu, said in a statement Syria had made "a constructive beginning for what will nonetheless be a long and difficult process."      

Earlier, the chief of the global chemical weapons watchdog briefed member states on progress in the high-stakes, high-risk mission to rid Syria of its poison gas stockpile.                   

Ahmet Uzumcu also spoke to the group's 41-nation Executive Council at the start of a four-day meeting in The Hague as inspectors continued their mission in Syria to verify and destroy the country's estimated 1,000-ton chemical arsenal in the midst of a two-year civil war.                

Details of the briefing were not immediately available but a press conference was scheduled later in the day.                    

A group of experts who were among the first into Syria last week has already returned to the OPCW headquarters to report on their talks with officials from President Bashar Assad's regime in Damascus. Uzumucu's briefing came a day after United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon revealed key details of the unprecedented UN-OPCW mission.                       

In a letter to the Security Council obtained by The Associated Press, Ban recommended Monday that approximately 100 UN and OPCW staff make up the mission.                    

Ban said that the international community's aim of destroying Syria's chemical weapons program by mid-2014 will require "an operation the likes of which, quite simply, have never been tried before," with greater operational and security risks because of the speed required.             
The joint OPCW-U.N. mission to scrap Syria's chemical program stems from a deadly Aug. 21 attack on opposition-held suburbs of Damascus in which the U.N. has determined the nerve agent sarin was used.                

Hundreds of people were killed, including many children. The U.S. and Western allies accuse the Syrian government of being responsible, while Damascus blames the rebels.                      

International positions:

Russia and the United States agree on how to eliminate chemical weapons in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday after meeting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

"We have a common understanding of what needs to be done and how. I am very glad that President (Barack) Obama is occupying this position (on chemical arms)," Putin told reporters at the end of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.                             

International experts charged with starting the process of verifying and eliminating chemical weapons arrived in Syria earlier this month. Russia, Syria's long-time ally and arms supplier, has offered to assist with the demolition process.

Putin said he believed experts would be able to accomplish their goal of ridding Syria of its chemical arms within a year.          

On the field:                

Syrian opposition forces said that at least one fighter was killed after rebels launched an attack on an army base in northern Syria on Monday.               

Dramatic video from Idlib province showed the rebels sending a group of 45 young fighters to launch a surprise attack on the Wadi Deif military base near the town of Maaret al-Numan, before deploying improvised cannons and makeshift mortars.            

Fighters were seen firing cannon that they call "Hell Fire", which was made in makeshift factories in rebel-controlled areas.                 

The improvised weapons often misfire causing injuries to the rebels, they say.                      

Rebels also used anti-aircraft weapons to thwart attacks from government helicopters.            

The Syrian army responded by deploying warplanes and helicopters and by shelling the area to prevent advances by the rebels.           

The fighting lasted for some six hours as rebels tried to drive troops from the base that controls the highway linking Aleppo to the capital, Damascus.            

It was unclear if the rebels managed to push out government forces from their positions. An opposition fighter died when he stepped on a landmine while attacking an army checkpoint, rebels in the area said. 


REUTERS/AP

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