Joint mission to destroy Syrian chemical weapons

A Danish freighter carrying Syrian chemical weapons arrived at a port in southern Italy on Wednesday ahead of their destruction at sea.

The weapons are to be transferred to a US military ship and then destroyed in international waters in the final phase of a programme to rid Syria of its chemical arms stockpile.

The port of Gioia Tauro has stepped up security for the shipment's arrival, sealing off access roads and barring entry to any non-authorised people, while a military helicopter flew overhead.

The chemical agents will be transferred from the Danish ship the Ark Futura to the US cargo vessel MV Cape Ray and then destroyed.

Syria shipped out its stockpile of chemical weapons under the terms of a UN-backed and US-Russia brokered agreement to head off Western air strikes against the Syrian government last year.

Turkey also to aid destruction of Syrian chemical arms

Turkey is to help a UN program to destroy Syrian chemical weapons in the Mediterranean Sea by sending a frigate, Turkish army officials have said.

The Turkish frigate TCG Salih Reis (F-246) will accompany the joint mission that was formed by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said a statement from the Turkish General Staff on Sunday.

The operation will be commanded by the US Sixth Fleet’s Join Task Force-64.

Germany and Italy will also attend the operation by sending one frigate, while Greece sends a submarine.

The US motor vessel Cape Ray will destroy the Syrian chemical weapons in the Mediterranean and the joint task will accompany it.

The UN joint mission overseeing the elimination of Damascus' chemical weapons stockpile announced on 23 June that 100 percent of Syria's declared chemical weapons material has been destroyed or removed from Syria.

Syria accepted a removal plan in 2013 following an alleged chemical chemical gas attack by the Syrian government in which nearly 1,500 civilians, including women and children, died in the Ghouta suburbs of the capital Damascus on 2 August.

Syria has been gripped in an ongoing civil war since 2011, which has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced almost half of the population, according to the UN.