Chemical Weapons Challenges
An advance team from the organization charged with destroying Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles arrived in Damascus on last Tuesday to begin talks with Syrian officials on how to carry out its difficult and politically charged task, a United Nations official was quoted by media. A team of international disarmament experts has arrived in Syria to begin work on dismantling the country's stockpile of chemical weapons. Syria has said it will co-operate with the mission, set up after a US-Russia deal endorsed by the UN. It is the first time the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has been asked to destroy a country's chemical arms during a war. The inspectors' mission was born out of a deadly chemical attack on opposition-held suburbs of Damascus on Aug. 21. The U.S. and its allies accuse the Syrian government of being responsible, while Damascus blames the rebels. The chemical attack prompted the Obama administration to threaten punit...