OPCW: Syria has handed over on time a detailed plan to destroy its chemical stockpile; Russia to expand its airbase in Kyrgyzstan
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    • (OCTOBER 21-27)
    According to reports, Syria has handed over on time a detailed plan to destroy its chemical stockpile to the international watchdog OPCW. “On 24 October 2013, the Syrian Arab Republic submitted to the OPCW its formal initial declaration covering its chemical weapons program,” the watchdog said in a statement. Syria had until Sunday to do so. Syria was required to submit the destruction plan under a US-Russian deal agreed last month that headed off military strikes on Syria. The accord also gives Syria up to mid-2014 to destroy its chemical arsenal. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has already handed over an inventory of its chemical weapons and facilities. 1
    In another development, according to reports, Russia will expand its airbase in Kyrgyzstan at the end of the year ahead of the shutdown of a US base in the country. The number of planes at Russia’s Kant airbase in the country is likely to double by December this year. The Kant airbase last year was a source of disagreement between Kyrgyzstan and Russia. However in September this year Russia and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement allowing the former to continue operations at Kant until 2032 in exchange for Russia’s waiving off nearly half a billion dollars in debt owed by Kyrgyzstan. The Kant airbase, located about 20 kilometers from Bishkek, currently has 10 Sukhoi fighters, two Mi-8 helicopters, and about a dozen other transport and training airplanes. It is Russia’s only airbase in Central Asia.2

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