7 January 2013 - The Joint Mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations has informed the Secretary-General that further progress has been made towards the removal and eliminations of Syrian chemical weapons programme. A first quantity of priority chemical materials was moved from two sites to the port of Latakia for verification and was then loaded onto a Danish cargo ship today.

The Secretary-General welcomes the continuing progress in the international effort to eliminate the chemical weapons programme of the Syrian Arab Republic, as demonstrated by this latest achievement.

The Secretary-General once more commends the Special Coordinator and her team for their steadfast work in challenging circumstances.

New York, 7 January 2014

Source: Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General