UN, OPCW team arrive in Damascus

A team of officials from the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) team has arrived in Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday, just four days after the OPCW Executive Council and the UN Security Council unanimously endorsed a plan to send them to Syria to begin the process of overseeing the destruction of the country’s chemical weapons. The team, which includes 19 OPCW inspectors and 14 UN staff members, went into Syria over land from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters in New York. "On arrival, the team established a logistics base for its immediate work. In the coming days, their efforts are expected to focus on verifying information provided by the Syrian authorities and the initial planning phase of helping the country eliminate its chemical weapons production facilities," said Nesirky. According to the deadline set by the UN and the OPCW, the entire chemical weapons stockpile must be eliminated in the first half of next year. On Monday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced the hope that the successful initiative on chemical weapons that led to a Security Council resolution last week would help create momentum that could lead both to increased humanitarian access and to a political solution for Syria. In a meeting with Nabil Elaraby, secretary-general of the Arab League, Ban also discussed arrangements for a peace conference on Syria.