Italy to open port for Syrian chemical weapons destruction purposes

Italy said Friday it was opening one of its ports for ships used to transfer and destroy the Syrian chemical weapons, an operation that involved many countries from around the globe. The foreign ministry said a port, which it did not name, would be used for the "transfer of Syrian chemical materials among the ships" which would be destroyed in international waters. The Italian announcement was made as a Norwegian and Danish ships were ready to sail for Syrian ports to take chemical materials to be destroyed out of the country. The chemical materials that will be handled in the Italian port will be inside containers sealed in line with international technical and environmental standards. The containers will be loaded to a US ship that will destroy the chemical materials in international waters, said the ministry in a statement. Italian foreign minister Emma Bonino said last September that Rome was ready to contribute logistically, financially and technically to the destruction of the Syrian chemical weapons.