& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Chemical Arms Production

Syria destroys all equipment

AFP, Damascus
Damascus has destroyed all its declared chemical arms production equipment meeting a deadline that expires today, a watchdog said yesterday, adding that the regime's entire declared stock of chemical weapons has been placed under seal.
"All stocks of chemical weapons and agents have been placed under seals that are impossible to break," Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons spokesman Christian Chartier told AFP, adding the seals were "tamper proof.
"These are 1,000 tonnes of chemical agents (which can be used to make weapons) and 290 tonnes of chemical weapons," Chartier said in The Hague.
Inspectors had until today to visit all of Syria's chemical sites and destroy all production and filling equipment in accordance with a timeline laid down by the Hague-based OPCW and backed by a UN Security Council resolution passed last month.
The resolution was agreed by the US and Russia to avert military strikes
SEE PAGE 2 COL 4
on Syria after deadly chemical weapons attacks outside Damascus in August, which the West blamed on President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
"The Joint Mission is now satisfied that it has verified - and seen destroyed — all of Syria's declared critical production and mixing/filling equipment," the OPCW said.
The organisation's head of field operations, Jerry Smith, told the BBC 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."
The OPCW inspectors had visited all 23 chemical weapons sites but for two in areas considered "too dangerous,” Smith said.
"But the contents (of those two) were moved to other sites that we did visit. Therefore we have visited and seen the destruction of all Syria's declared chemical weapons capability."
OPCW and UN inspectors have until mid-2014 to destroy Syria's entire chemical arsenal and production facilities under the terms of a US-Russian deal to head off military strikes on President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
"The weapons and agents remain at their respective sites, we're not yet at the stage of moving them," Chartier said.
The OPCW statements came as
Brahimi held meetings in Damascus with opposition members tolerated by the regime.
He has been travelling the Middle East since mid-October to garner support for proposed peace talks, dubbed Geneva II. He is due to travel back to Beirut today.
The Syrian leg of the tour is the most sensitive, as the veteran Algerian diplomat needs to persuade a wary regime and an increasingly divided opposition to attend.
Brahimi had on Wednesday held talks which lasted less than an hour with Assad, during which the Syrian president criticised foreign interference in his country and urged them to stop sending support to rebels for a peaceful solution to the crisis.
In an interview this month, Assad cast doubt on the possibility of his regime attending the Geneva talks, saying he would not negotiate with any group tied to the rebels or to foreign states.
The main opposition National Coalition has said it will refuse to take part in any talks unless Assad's resignation is on the table, and some rebel groups have warned participants will be considered traitors.
More than 115,000 people have been killed in the 31-month armed uprising against the Assad regime triggered by his forces' bloody crackdown on Arab Spring-inspired democracy protests.