Austria offers 5 chemical weapons experts to UN Syria mission

Austria has on Thursday offered to send five chemical weapons experts to take part in the United Nations efforts to dispose of the chemical weapons arsenal in Syria. The offer, also made to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), came from the Austrian defense and foreign ministries, Austria Press Agency reported. The personnel could be deployed next year, and could do so on multiple four-to-six week tours. In addition, the Austrian government said it could make other resources available to the efforts, such as army transport planes, and an offer has also been made to the OPCW to educate specialists to aid in the mission. The defense ministry reiterated its stance that Austrian participation would only be possible if the safety of the personnel was guaranteed, including a cease-fire to allow the experts to work safely and undisturbed. The United Nations aims to have a definitive plan for the mission by the end of November, upon which the Austrian government will finalize its decision on participation.