Russia says could help transport Syrian chemical arms to port

World News
09-12-2013 | 09:31
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Russia says could help transport Syrian chemical arms to port
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Russia says could help transport Syrian chemical arms to port

Syrian state television said the country's local and international telephone lines as well as the Internet are down because of technical problems.

The station says technicians are working to fix the problem in Syria's main fiber optic cable. The report gave no further details.

Calls were not going through to Syria Monday afternoon.

Canadian network monitoring firm BGPmon said Monday that Syria was hit by a countrywide Internet outage affecting more than 90 percent of the nation's networks at 11:30 Syria time (0930 GMT).

Telephones and the Internet have been cut on several occasions since Syria's crisis began in March 2011.

On another note, the head of the global chemicals weapon watchdog OPCW said on Monday that the removal of chemical weapons from Syria may be delayed slightly due to the difficulties of operating during a civil war.

But any hold-up should be small and the mid-2014 deadline to destroy these weapons remains realistic, said Ahmet Uzumcu, whose Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has been charged with supervising the destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal.

The Hague-based OPCW was given the task of overseeing destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stocks following a sarin gas attack on the outskirts of Damascus in August which killed hundreds of people.

The deal, in part brokered by Russia, averted US missile strikes. OPCW said difficulties included security, particularly on secondary and access roads to various facilities, and the strict verification process that required extensive cooperation with the administration of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.


In the same context, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Russia could help provide transport to take Syrian chemical weapons to the Mediterranean port of Latakia for removal and destruction at sea.   

"Transport, yes ... the issue is being discussed," Bogdanov told reporters when asked whether Moscow could provide security or transport to help get the weapons to Latakia, from where Syria is due to send them to a floating destruction facility.   

"My understanding is that the Syrian authorities should protect the shipments."

Also on Monday, President of the Syrian National Coalition Ahmad Al-Jarba said that he would visit Russia upon Moscow's invitation, but gave no date for the trip.

"I have received an invitation from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, delivered by his deputy around 20 days ago," Jarba told the official KUNA news agency.

"I will visit Russia to convince them that their interest lies with the Syrian people and not with the regime," Jarba said during his first official visit to Kuwait.         

However, he gave no date for the visit and did not say whether it will take place before the so-called Geneva 2 peace conference.


On the field:

Syrian government troops took full control of a western town near the main north-south highway, state media said, a development that could pave the way for the start of overland transport of the country's chemical weapons to a port for destruction abroad.

Activists say that rebels still hold part of Nabek, however.

The road near Nabek holds strategic value for both sides in Syria's conflict, now in its third year. 

The highway serves as a crucial link between the capital Damascus and northern Syria as well as government strongholds along the Mediterranean coast.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said last week it would consider using the road to transport Syria's chemical weapons to the port of Latakia before they are taken out for possible destruction at sea.

Syrian state TV said President Bashar Assad's army took Nabek Monday morning after "a series of precise operations." Troops are still pursuing "terrorists" in the town's outskirts.

Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the government controls most of Nabek. It said fighting was ongoing Monday in areas around the town that have in the past days seen heavy clashes between the Syrian army and its Lebanon Hezbollah allies and Islamist rebels, including many from an al-Qaida-linked group, on the opposition side.

The Observatory said the highway has been closed for 19 days because of the fighting. On Sunday, the army said it has reopened the road.

Syria's conflict began with peaceful anti-Assad protests in March 2011 and developed into an armed insurrection when these were violently suppressed. More than 100,000 people have been killed and fighting has broadly settled into a bloody stalemate.


REUTERS/AP
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