OPCW chief to hold press conference Wednesday at Hague

The Director General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ahmet Uzumcu, is expected to give a press conference on Wednesday on the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons. "We had planned to organise this press conference tomorrow, Tuesday, but the event has now been moved back to Wednesday 9 October," said the OPCW in a press release Monday. As regrds the discussion of the Syrian mission at the 74th Session of the OPCW Executive Council in the Hague on Monday all meetings of the Council is restricted to States Parties with no arrangements for media coverage, and this session will be no exception, noted the press release. "We do however expect to issue a press release at around 11:00 GMT tomorrow Tuesday on the substance of the DG's report to the Council on Syria," it added. The process of destroying Syria's chemical weapons programme began yesterday. Under the supervision of experts from OPCW, supported by the United Nations, Syrian personnel used cutting torches and angle grinders to destroy or disable a range of items. This included missile warheads, aerial bombs and mixing and filling equipment. The process will continue in the coming day, said a separate press release by OPCW. International inspectors from the OPCW supported by a team from the UN are monitoring, verifying and reporting on Syria's compliance with international demands to destroy chemical weapons stockpiles and production facilities, it added.