Chemical weapons watchdog says Syria cooperating with mission

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director General Ahmet Uzumcu speaks during a news conference in The Hague, October 9, 2013. REUTERS/Toussaint Kluiters/United Photos

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Syrian officials have been constructive and cooperative in the early stages of the programme to destroy Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, the head of the global chemical weapons watchdog said on Wednesday.

Ahmet Uzumcu, director general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said that experts aimed to visit 20 sites in the coming days and weeks, and could eliminate Syria's chemical weapons by mid-2014 if they won support from all sides in its civil war.