US ship completes destruction of Syria chemical weapons

The Pentagon says a specially-equipped US ship has completed the neutralization of all the 600 metric tons of the most dangerous of Syria’s chemical weapons components.

Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said on Monday that the crew on the American ship, USS Cape Ray, finished the work.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called the captain of the American ship to “congratulate the ship’s crew on finishing their unprecedented work.”

According to the Pentagon, the USS Cape Ray, equipped with the US-developed Field Deployable Hydrolysis System, neutralized 581.5 metric tons of DF, a sarin precursor chemical, and 19.8 metric tons of HD, an ingredient of sulfur mustard, while on the sea.

The ship will travel to Finland and Germany in the next two weeks to unload the resulting effluent, a Pentagon spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama hailed the completion of the annihilation of the Syrian chemical weapon stockpile.

“Going forward, we will watch closely to see that Syria fulfills its commitment to destroy its remaining declared chemical weapons production facilities,” Obama said.

Last September, Russia and the US agreed on a deal under which Syria would have its chemical weapons eliminated and Washington would in return not carry out planned strikes on the Arab country.

The war rhetoric against Syria intensified after foreign-backed opposition forces accused the government of President Bashar al-Assad of launching a chemical attack on militant strongholds in the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, on August 21, 2013.

Damascus vehemently denied the accusation, saying the attack was carried out by the militants themselves as a false-flag operation.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011. The Western powers and their regional allies – especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and, Turkey – are reportedly supporting the militants operating inside Syria.