DHAKA: Germany says it is giving 2 million euros 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 United States called for an inventory of Syria’s chemical weapons within a week, and for all components of the programme 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’, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1727 HRS, SEPT 19, 2013
RoR/RIS