Syria hands over last of chemical stockpile

Syria has handed over the remaining 100 tonnes of toxic material it declared to the global chemical weapons watchdog, clearing the way for destruction of the stockpile at sea, sources said yesterday.

The chemicals, roughly 8% of a total 1,300 tonnes reported to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, had been held at a storage site which the government of president Bashar al-Assad previously said was inaccessible due to fighting with rebels.

The security situation in the area has now improved and the containers of chemicals have been taken by truck to the port of Latakia, the sources said.