MINSK. May 19 (Interfax) - Favorable conditions will be created for the work of the regional Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) branch in Belarus if the decision is made to open the office, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.
"We have always cooperated and will cooperate with your organization," Lukashenko said during a meeting with OPCW Director General Ahmet Uzumcu in Minsk on Monday.
"We are committed to the Chemical Weapons Convention and in this part you can count on our support and assistance," Lukashenko said. "We support advancing the interests of the organization in Belarus and would like a regional branch of this organization to exist in Belarus," he said.
"If such a decision is made we will do everything necessary so that experts, who will deal with issues related to chemical weapons prohibition and destruction, are comfortable here working," the Belarusian president said.
A total of 92% of Syrian chemical weapons have been loaded onto ships provided by Denmark and Norway, Uzumcu said during a Monday meeting with the Belarusian foreign minister. The remaining chemical weapons are in an area with difficult security conditions, Uzumcu said. It is hoped that the Syrian authorities will provide access to these materials soon, so that they are loaded and taken away, he said.