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The Syrian government has " fully cooperated" in supporting the joint mission of the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to destroy Syria's stockpiles of chemical weapons, Special Coordinator Sigrid Kaag said on Tuesday.
In a statement issued here by UN spokesperson's office, the newly-appointed mission head said after arriving in Damascus: "By joining the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Syrian government has indicated its commitment to the task."
Kaag said she is glad to be in Syria following the welcome decision by the UN Security Council and the Executive Council of the OPCW, which called for the expeditious destruction of the chemical weapons program of the Syrian Arab Republic.
"To date, the government of Syria has fully cooperated in supporting the work of the advance team and the OPCW-UN Joint Mission," she said.
Also paying tribute to all members in the mission, Kaag stressed that the time frames are challenging given the goal of the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons program in the first half of 2014.
The joint mission was set up on Oct. 16 under the proposal of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. According to a statement of the OPCW last week, the mission has conducted verification activities at a total of 11 Syrian chemical sites.
The OPCW, which this month was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and the UN currently have about 60 experts working in Syria on eradicating chemical weapons. The number will increase as more investigators arrive in the unrest-torn country by Nov. 1.
