Albania on Friday rejected a US request to host the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons, dealing a blow to a US-Russian accord to eliminate such arms from the country’s protracted civil war.
Negotiations went down to the wire as the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague hit the deadline on Friday for a step-by-step plan to get rid of 1,300 tonnes of Syria’s sarin, mustard gas and other agents.
After the Albanian decision, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning body adopted a plan on Friday night that set out deadlines in the destruction process, but did not name a host country for the effort or provide details on security arrangements.
Photo: AFP
Albania’s refusal marked an unprecedented break from its traditionally staunch allegiance to NATO ally Washington and may make it hard to meet destruction deadlines. It followed a storm of protest in the Adriatic republic, where protesters complained of exploitation.
“It is impossible for Albania to get involved in this operation,” Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, just two months in the job, said in a televised address to the nation.
“We lack the necessary capacities to get involved in this operation,” he said, following days of growing protests outside government buildings.
Hundreds of demonstrators, including students skipping school classes, gathered earlier on Friday to denounce the plan for Albania to host the destruction of the Syrian weapons, “NO” painted on their faces.
In Washington, US Department of State spokeswoman Jen Psaki sought to downplay the Albanian decision, saying several other nations “are seriously considering ... hosting the destruction efforts.”
She did not identify these, but said the US expects that the timelines for the destruction of the Syrian weapons would be met despite the Albanian refusal.
There was no immediate indication where the US or Russia might look next to dispose of thousands of tonnes of toxic waste. One source briefed on the discussions said Washington had bet on Albanian cooperation.
Faced with the threat of US missile strikes, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in September agreed to destroy his entire chemical weapons stockpile following a sarin gas attack that killed hundreds of people in Damascus on Aug. 21.
Washington said only al-Assad’s forces could have carried out the attack, a charge the Syrian leader denied.
The plan adopted by the OPCW on Friday called for the “most critical” chemicals to be transported out of Syria by Dec. 31, with the removal of all declared chemical substances and precursors, except for isopropanol, one of two key ingredients for sarin, no later than Feb. 5.
Under the plan, Syria’s chemical weapons facilities would be gradually destroyed between Dec. 15 and March 15, while the destruction of the priority chemical weapons would be completed outside Syria by March 31. All other declared chemical materials would be eliminated by June 30.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS