Government to donate €15,000 to destruction of Syrian Chemical weapons

Malta's government will be contributing €15,000 towards the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons outside the territory of the war-torn Middle Eastern country, the Departmnent of Information announced.

Signing a voluntary contribution agreement for such activities, the government will be donating the money to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemicals Weapons (OPCW) Special Trust fund to destroy Syrian chemical weapons that will be removed from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic and be destroyed in commercial facilities.

In September, the United Nations Security Council passed a historic resolution to destroy Syria's chemical weapons.

Widely seen as a compromise between the US and Syria's key ally, Russia, the resolution was struck after two weeks of intense negotiations following two and a half years of paralysis that has gripped the council since the Syrian uprising began.

More than 100,000 Syrians have been killed during that time while millions have been displaced.

The UN envisages the destruction of Syria's chemical stockpile by the middle of next year.

Malta OPCW representative Ambassador Martin Valentino said the government remains committed to support the destruction of Syria's chemical stockpile.

"The government remains committed to support the efforts, the work and the measures being taken by the OPCW Technical Secretariat, with regard to the destruction of such abhorrent weapons and urges that the chemical agents and precursors are destroyed as soon as possible within the established timelines."