The Security Council today adopted a resolution strongly condemning the use of any toxic chemical, such as chlorine, as a weapon in Syria and stressing that those who use such weapons must be held accountable.

Given that the 30 June 2014 deadline for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme will not be met, the focus now is on the immediate removal of the remaining materials, the head of the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations (OPCW-UN) said today.

Syria has, as of 19 April, removed or destroyed in-country approximately 80 per cent of its chemical weapons material, the head of the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations announced today.

The Joint Mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations overseeing the destruction of Syria’s weapons programme confirmed yesterday that the Government has destroyed critical production equipment, rendering them inoperable. By doing so, Syria has met the deadline set by the OPCW Executive Council to complete the destruction of such equipment by 1 November.