U.S. tells Syria to take immediate steps to remove chemical weapons

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States told Syria on Thursday to take immediate actions to comply with a U.N. resolution to remove its chemical weapons materials saying demands by Damascus for additional equipment were "without merit" and delays were adding to costs.

A statement by the United States to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the world's chemicals weapons watchdog in The Hague, said just 4 percent of the chemicals declared by Syria had been removed.