A week late, but the first batch of raw materials from Syria’s chemical weapons stocks was loaded onto a Danish cargo ship and taken out of the war-torn country by a Danish vessel.  It was escorted by Chinese, Danish, Norwegian and Russian frigates.

“The vessel has now left the port of Latakia for international waters,” said Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch diplomat coordinating the joint mission by the UN and Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.  “It will remain at sea awaiting the arrival of additional priority chemical materials at the port.”

The Syrian government is responsible for transporting its chemical weapons to the port at Latakia, but the civil war has made that difficult.  Hence the one-week delay.  From there, the plan is to take it all to Italy, where they will be loaded on to a US Navy ship, carried to international waters, and destroyed inside of a titanium tank that was specially-created for this operation. 

It’s part of to do away with Syrian President Bashir al-Assad’s chemical weapons arsenal.

Syria agreed to abandon its chemical weapons by June under the agreement brokered by the US and Russia after the 21 August sarin gas attack that killed hundreds of people.  Western nations blamed it on President Bashar al-Assad's forces.