Eighty percent of Syrian chemical weapons shipped out - monitors

Sigrid Kaag, head of the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), participates in an interview with Reuters in Beirut March 21, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria has shipped out or destroyed approximately 80 percent of its declared chemical weapons material, the head of the international team overseeing the disarmament process said on Saturday.

Sigrid Kaag, special coordinator of the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said if the momentum was sustained, Syria should be able to meet its April 27 deadline to hand over all declared chemical agents.