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Dutch expert Sigrid Kaag to lead Syria chemical weapons mission

The U.N. chief appeared with Kaag shortly after U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky announced her appointment and the official establishment of the joint mission of the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons that she will lead.

Its goal is to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, all chemical precursors, and the equipment to produce the deadly weapons by mid-2014.

“We have no illusions on the challenges ahead,” the secretary-general said. “The situation in Syria remains dangerous and unpredictable. The cooperation of all parties in Syria is required.”

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Wednesday that an advance team of inspectors have so far visited 11 of more than 20 sites linked to Syria’s chemical weapons program. The team destroyed “critical equipment” at six sites as well as unloaded chemical weapons munitions, said the OPWC.

Nesirky said the joint mission was officially created on Wednesday and trust funds have been set up at both the U.N. and OPCW to help finance it.

Kaag, a fluent Arabic speaker who has been the assistant administrator of the U.N. Development Program, said she was honoured and humbled to be chosen for “this very complex and challenging assignment.” She said she would travel to The Hague, Netherlands, where the OPCW is based, on Friday evening for consultations and guidance from its director-general, Ahmet Uzumcu.

Ban praised the U.N. Security Council, which last month ended 2 1/2 years of paralysis on Syria by unanimously approving a resolution ordering the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons, for quickly approving the appointment of Kaag.

“She will be responsible for overseeing all activities on the ground undertaken by the OPCW and the United Nations personnel” from Cyprus, where the joint mission will have its staging area and support base, Ban said.

Kaag will also coordinate international assistance that will be needed to complete the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons, he said.

At the same time, Ban stressed that “the United Nations has not lost sight for one moment of the wider tragedy that is still destroying Syria” and is “equally focused on reaching a political solution that will stop the appalling the violence and suffering being inflicted on the Syrian people.”