MOSCOW. Oct 2 (Interfax) - The Syria disarmament team of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will launch its mission on Monday, OPCW press secretary Michael Luhan told the Voice of Russia radio.
He said the inspectors were establishing contacts with the Syrian officials assigned to assist in the OPCW operations.
At first, the inspectors will verify the scale of the Syrian chemical weapons arsenal. "We've received a detailed disclosure from them, which lists the sites and what kind of chemical weapons material is in those sites. We have that on paper," Luhan said.
"Once we have clarity in agreement with the state party, in this case Syria on what constitutes its chemical warfare program and where, that becomes the benchmark for destruction and, in the destruction phase, probably there might be a hiatus of sorts between completing the verification phase we are now on and getting on to destruction of the stockpiles," he stated.
In his words, the disarmament process may be slower than scheduled.
"Syria is a war zone, the government does not have control over its own territory. So, security is going to be the first concern, the first imperative," Luhan said.
Syrian security services are negotiating with insurgent groups in control of the territories where military depots are located with the purpose of the safe operations of the international inspectors.
Earlier reports said that an international team of 19 OPCW inspectors and 14 UN officers deployed its logistical base on Tuesday in order to immediately begin the Syrian disarmament work.