US offers to destroy Syrian chemical weapons

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical weapons says the United States has offered to help destroy some of the most lethal parts of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical weapons says the United States has offered to help destroy some of the most lethal parts of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile.

The organization's Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu said in a statement Saturday the US government has offered to contribute "a destruction technology, full operational support and financing to neutralize" the weapons offshore, most likely on a ship in the Mediterranean Sea. The operation is to be completed with Syrian assistance by December 31.

The OPCW also wants nearly 800 tons of chemicals, many of which are industrial chemicals regularly destroyed at civilian facilities all over the world, to be destroyed by private companies as part of the organization's ambitious plan to completely eradicate Syria's chemical weapons program by mid-2014.