Syria's state TV airs 1st footage of disabling chemical weapons

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Syria's state TV airs 1st footage of disabling chemical weapons

(Xinhua) 09:37, October 08, 2013

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DAMASCUS, Oct. 7 -- Syrian state TV aired on Monday the first video footage showing international chemical experts are working on disabling the country's chemical program.

The brief footage showed that some experts from the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations are disabling what seemed like control panels used to operate chemical weapons.

"Until today, the dismantling process involved disabling the devices responsible for producing chemical weapons and rendering them irreparable in addition to disabling the empty ammunition like warheads and bombs," the TV newscaster said in an off-camera commentary.

Earlier in the day, an official with the joint mission of the OPCW and the UN said that their first day of destroying Syria's chemical weapons was "excellent".

"It was an excellent first day... There will be many more days and more milestones and we expect the continued cooperation of all concerned parties so that we can pass those milestones effectively, " the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The joint team announced that the process of destroying Syria's chemical weapons program began Sunday and will continue in the coming days.

The experts arrived in Syria last Tuesday and met with Syrian foreign ministry officials before they started their ground work to find and dismantle an estimated 1,000-ton chemical arsenal in the country.

The United Nations Security Council said the OPCW will help Syria destroy its chemical weapons by mid-2014. The mission will be expanded as more investigators arrive in Damascus next week.

（Editor：YaoChun、Liang Jun）