Syria: Obama Cautious Over Weapons Deal

How Chemical Weapons Can Be Removed

Updated: 8:14pm UK, Tuesday 10 September 2013

By Ian Woods, Senior News Correspondent

The US government has some expertise in how international observers can oversee the disposal of unwanted chemical weapons.

The Americans have allowed inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to supervise the elimination of their own stockpiles of unwanted sarin, VX and mustard gas.

The shells were part of a Cold War arsenal which had to be destroyed after the US became one of the 189 countries which signed and ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was drawn up in the mid-1990s.

So, as the White House tries to work out whether the Russian/Syrian disarmament offer is genuine, it knows that where there is the will, there is a way. 

The first step would be for Syria to sign and ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention, which reports suggest it is now prepared to do.

It was one of only five countries to refuse to sign up; the others are Egypt, Angola, North Korea and South Sudan.

Israel and Burma signed but did not ratify the convention.

Once formal agreement is in place, Syria would have to provide a full inventory of stockpile locations and manufacturing sites, which would then be verified by inspectors from the OPCW.

The international experts would monitor the destruction of the weapons, but it would be up to the Syrians themselves to do the work, and to pay for it.

Many international chemical weapons experts believe there are substantial stocks to be destroyed. 

Hamish de Bretton Gordon told Sky News that Mr Assad has "up to a 1,000 tonnes of sarin, slightly less of VX",

He said: "He has substantial amounts of mustard gas, potentially also biological weapons.

"The fact that he's now agreed that the international community take control of his stockpile of chemical weapons is a pretty fair indicator that he has what we think he has.

"This strikes me as being a lengthy and fairly laborious exercise, but some lateral thinking and some bold action is what is required. Technically it's workable."

The OPCW is not part of the United Nations, so a UN resolution is not necessary to get inspectors into Syria if the regime in Damascus becomes a willing signatory.

Within 30 days of signing the Chemical Weapons Convention Syria would be legally obliged to allow the inspectors access.

It could take several weeks to get inspectors on the ground and ensure it is safe for them to carry out their task.

A country torn apart by an ongoing civil war is not the most stable place to be overseeing the collection and disposal of chemical weapons and the destruction of the arsenal will take many months.

Sky News visited Anniston, Alabama, in 2003 when the US Army was beginning the task of destroying its ageing and corroding stockpile of chemical weapons.

The site held just 7% of America's arsenal of such weapons. It took eight years to complete the task.

By 2012 almost 90% of America's chemical arsenal had been destroyed. Two more sites are currently being built in Colorado and Kentucky to destroy what remains.

But such weapons are usually destroyed in peacetime, not in the midst of a war.

Professor Alastair Hay from the University of Leeds has worked on chemical weapons issues for four decades.

He said: "The inspectors couldn't do their work if they were being shot at so you will have to ensure that the inspectors are safe, and that they can get access to all of the sites that they can do a decent inventory.

"Having located all those stocks, what's the best way of securing them? Should they stay where they are and be monitored, or should they be moved?

"And of course if they need to be moved, where would they go? And can you transport them safely to some other location, moving them through residential locations?

"But if it can de done it's much better than blowing these things up."

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