LIMASSOL: A Chinese frigate which will help escort Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons out of the country docked in Cyprus yesterday as part of a delayed international mission.
The Yancheng will accompany a Norwegian-Danish convoy which is in international waters off Syria, waiting for the go-ahead from international watchdogs overseeing the removal of the chemical arsenal. The mission to ship chemicals from Syria has missed its December 31 target date and Chinese and Cypriot officials said it was unclear exactly when it would begin.
“China supports the efforts of the international community to destroy the Syrian chemical weapons. We wish this operation a success,” said Liu Xinsheng, the Chinese ambassador to Cyprus.
Photis Photiou, the defence minister of Cyprus, said after meeting Chinese officials that he expected the operation would start “any day now.” Russia will also provide escort to the convoy carrying Syria’s chemical weapons, which will be loaded onto two cargo ships and escorted to Italy, where a US ship equipped with toxin neutralising equipment will take over.
The US vessel, the Cape Ray, is due to leave the United States for the Mediterranean in about two weeks. Dozens of Chinese nationals in Cyprus converged on the quay of Limassol port, about 160 miles west of the Syrian port city of Latakia from where the chemicals will be shipped.Reuters
