ALEPPO, Syria, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov says the accusations that Syria is delaying the destruction of the country's chemical weapons is "unjustifiable".
Earlier this week, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Andrew Weber accused the Syrians of "dragging their feet" in getting the weapons out of the country to be destroyed.
In response to these accusations, Gatilov said it was completely "unjustifiable," and that "Syria has done a great job and implemented all its obligations." He said there are two difficulties that Syria is dealing with that everyone needs to understand. The first being that the technical assistance, which is supposed to include wrapping and transportation material, has not arrived until just now, when it was promised 15 days ago. Second, he said that everyone needs to remember that Syria is still a war zone, and that causes delays that are out of the government's control.
Gatilov finished by saying about the final date for destruction of the weapons, June 30, "We will implement before that date, if we can."
[BBC]
