NETHERLANDS – Syria handed details of its chemical weapons stockpile on Friday to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), located in the Hague, Netherlands.
The OPCW received an initial disclosure from the Syrian Government of its chemical weapons program, which is now being examined by the Technical Secretariat of the Organization, the OPCW confirmed Friday.
In a deal brokered in recent days by the United States and Russia, a U.S. military strike on the war-torn country was avoided. The United Nations had earlier confirmed that the chemical nerve agent sarin was used in an attack near the city of Damascus, killing nearly one thousand people.
In the aftermath of the attack, President Barack Obama and other U.S. government officials laid blame for the attack on the Syrian government – including President Bashar Assad himself – and sought United Nations approval of a strike on Syria. Russia and China blocked the United Nations Security Council from approving the strike, forcing the U.S. to go it alone. Britain also backed out of supporting the strike.
As Congress debated President Obama’s decree that a military strike should ensue, Russia offered to help Syria disclose and dismantle its chemical weapons.
As part of the deal struck between the U.S. and Russia, Syria requested technical assistance from the OPCW in disclosing its chemical weapons stockpile.
It was reported that Syria will continue to allow access to its chemical weapons and cooperate in the dismantling of its chemical weapons program.
