UN authorizes plan to destroy Syrian weapons

The Security Council has authorized a joint mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons – a necessary final step for the dangerous and unprecedented project.

READ MORE: Chemical weapons watchdog wins Nobel Peace Prize

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The council president, Azerbaijan’s U.N. Ambassador Agshin Mehdiyev, gave the authorization in a letter to the secretary-general Friday morning, obtained by The Associated Press.

The council also gave a green light to the proposal outlined by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a letter to the council on Monday to establish a U.N.-OPCW mission, with approximately 100 staff, to carry out the destruction in three phases by mid-2014.

READ MORE: What is the OPCW and what does it do?

Earlier Friday, the OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to destroy Syria’s stockpiles of nerve gas and other poisonous agents.