Syria completes handover of chemical weapons inventory
Technical experts are reviewing a further disclosure from Syria about its chemical weapons programme, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has said.
A day earlier, the body that polices the global treaty outlawing chemical weapons said it had received a preliminary submission from Syria.
No details have been released about what is in the Syrian declarations and OPCW spokesman Michael Luhan refused to give any more details about the latest submission.
Under a United States-Russia agreement aimed at swiftly ridding Syria of its chemical arsenal, Damascus had until today to submit a full list to the organisation of its chemical weapons and production facilities so they can be secured and destroyed.
Meanwhile, Syrian government troops backed by allied militiamen have stormed a village in the centre of the country, killing at least 15 people, an activist group said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack on the predominantly-Sunni village of Sheik Hadid occurred late yesterday.
The group said the dead included two women and a child. The rest were men but it is not known if they included rebel fighters.
The assault came shortly after rebels captured Jalma, another village close to Sheik Hadid in Hama province, killing five soldiers.
The Observatory said fighting was raging today in Sheik Hadid and nearby areas.
