Source: APTN

The head of the team charged with destroying Syria's chemical weapons said on Tuesday that there has been "continuous strong co-operation" with the Syrian government so far.

The goal of the joint UN and Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) mission is to destroy Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, all chemical precursors, and the equipment to produce the deadly weapons by mid-2014.

"We've had very good meetings with the Syrian government at the most senior level," mission head Sigrid Kaag told reporters in Damascus.

"There is continuous strong co-operation, which the Secretary-General and the Director General of the OPCW have also confirmed in recent statements, and we build on this because we have one shared goal, which is elimination of the program which is a benefit to all, and particularly the Syrian people," she added.

Kaag was appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the post earlier this month.

In a statement issued late on Monday, the inspectors said they had visited 17 sites since they began their work at the beginning of October.

They said they had destroyed "critical equipment to make the facilities inoperable."

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