Syria to miss deadline for moving chemical weapons

Syria has until mid-2014 to destroy its chemical weapons program under the deal struck by Russia and the United States in September. To meet that challenging timetable, it agreed with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to remove some 500 tons of its most toxic chemicals by the end of this year and the remaining roughly 700 tons of chemicals in its stockpile by early February.

“At this stage, transportation of the most critical chemical material before 31 December is unlikely,” the United Nations and the chemical weapons group said in a joint statement released on Saturday. They said that volatile security in Syria had “constrained planned movements” and that logistical problems and bad weather had contributed to the delay.

The O.P.C.W. had warned of possible delays when it approved the plan, and the statement noted the “important progress” Syria has made in dismantling its chemical weapons program in the past three months.