Albania on Friday rejected a US request to host the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons, dealing a blow to a US-Russian accord to eliminate such arms from the country’s protracted civil war.
Negotiations went down to the wire as the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague hit the deadline on Friday for a step-by-step plan to get rid of 1,300 tonnes of Syria’s sarin, mustard gas and other agents.
After the Albanian decision, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning body adopted a plan on Friday night that set out deadlines in the destruction process, but did not name a host country for the effort or provide details on security arrangements.
Photo: AFP
Albania’s refusal marked an unprecedented break from its traditionally staunch allegiance to NATO ally Washington and may make it hard to meet destruction deadlines. It followed a storm of protest in the Adriatic republic, where protesters complained of exploitation.
“It is impossible for Albania to get involved in this operation,” Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, just two months in the job, said in a televised address to the nation.
“We lack the necessary capacities to get involved in this operation,” he said, following days of growing protests outside government buildings.
Hundreds of demonstrators, including students skipping school classes, gathered earlier on Friday to denounce the plan for Albania to host the destruction of the Syrian weapons, “NO” painted on their faces.
In Washington, US Department of State spokeswoman Jen Psaki sought to downplay the Albanian decision, saying several other nations “are seriously considering ... hosting the destruction efforts.”
She did not identify these, but said the US expects that the timelines for the destruction of the Syrian weapons would be met despite the Albanian refusal.
There was no immediate indication where the US or Russia might look next to dispose of thousands of tonnes of toxic waste. One source briefed on the discussions said Washington had bet on Albanian cooperation.
Faced with the threat of US missile strikes, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in September agreed to destroy his entire chemical weapons stockpile following a sarin gas attack that killed hundreds of people in Damascus on Aug. 21.
Washington said only al-Assad’s forces could have carried out the attack, a charge the Syrian leader denied.
The plan adopted by the OPCW on Friday called for the “most critical” chemicals to be transported out of Syria by Dec. 31, with the removal of all declared chemical substances and precursors, except for isopropanol, one of two key ingredients for sarin, no later than Feb. 5.
Under the plan, Syria’s chemical weapons facilities would be gradually destroyed between Dec. 15 and March 15, while the destruction of the priority chemical weapons would be completed outside Syria by March 31. All other declared chemical materials would be eliminated by June 30.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
China is deploying its largest navy fleet in regional waters in nearly three decades, posing a threat to Taiwan that is more pronounced than previous Chinese war games, the Ministry of National Defense said today. Speaking in Taipei, ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said the scale of the current Chinese naval deployment in an area running from the southern Japanese islands down into the South China Sea was the largest since China held war games around Taiwan ahead of 1996 Taiwanese presidential elections. China's military has yet to comment and has not confirmed it is carrying out any exercises. "The current scale is