Germany gives $2.7M to help destroy Syria weapons

Berlin decides to contribute extra funding so that The Hague-based chemical arms watchdog can ‘deal with the Herculean task’

Illustrative photo: This image, from a video posted on September 18, 2013, shows Syrians in protective suits and gas masks conducting a drill on how to treat casualties of a chemical weapons attack, in Aleppo, Syria. (AP)
Illustrative photo: This image, from a video posted on September 18, 2013, shows Syrians in protective suits and gas masks conducting a drill on how to treat casualties of a chemical weapons attack, in Aleppo, Syria. (AP)

BERLIN — Germany says it’s giving 2 million euros ($2.7 million) to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to help it oversee the destruction of Syria’s arms stocks.

An agreement last Saturday between Russia and the US called for an inventory of Syria’s chemical weapons within a week, and for all components of the program to be out of the country or destroyed by mid-2014. The Hague, Netherlands-based OPCW will have to oversee that process.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle had offered technical or financial support to help destroy the weapons. On Thursday, he said Berlin has decided to contribute extra funding so that the chemical weapons watchdog can “deal with the Herculean task.”

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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