Italian port available for transit of Syrian chemicals

Italy's Gioia Tauro port will be available for trans-loading chemicals brought from Syria by cargo vessels onto a U.S. ship, the Italian government confirmed on Thursday.

The chemicals will be brought over "in sealed containers, following strict technical and environmental standards," and will be destroyed through hydrolysis, according to the Italian Foreign Ministry.

Italian Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi reported to the parliament that 60 containers would be moved from the Danish cargo ship to the U.S. ship using special carriage ways. None of the cheminal materials would be brought on land.

The port is located on the Mediterranean coast of southern Italy and is specialized in transshipment activities.

Trans-loading the chemicals onto the U.S. ship Cape Ray in a port facility is said to greatly improve the safety and security of the operation.

Ahmet Uzumcu, Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed that the transfer "will hopefully occur in early February...within the first half of the month."

The end-of-June deadline for eliminating Syria's entire chemical arsenal would be met, he added.

The plan, however, didn't dismiss the worries. The mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, said before the local press: " If something happens, the population will come and get me with a pitchfork."

The mayor added that the city does not have a hospital that would be able to handle an emergency if it arose.