BREAKING NEWS

Syria eyes end of chemical arms monitoring mission; West disagrees

UNITED NATIONS - Syria declared on Wednesday that it is looking ahead to the dismantling of the international mission overseeing the destruction of the conflict-torn country's chemical arsenal, though Western officials say they want the team to keep working.
The statement came after Sigrid Kaag, head of the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), told the Security Council that the Syrian government should be able to meet an April 27 deadline to hand over all declared chemical agents.
But inside the council chamber, US and European delegations told Kaag that they are concerned about fresh allegations that Syria's government has deployed chlorine gas and expressed their view that a full investigation was necessary, diplomats said.