BAD START

Syrian Inspectors Miss Deadline

Security concerns keep them from two sites.

Chemical weapons inspectors in Syria missed an early deadline, according to a report published Tuesday. Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have visited 21 out of 23 sites because of security risks, meaning the watchdog group missed the October 27 deadline to visit all declared sites. Syria has claimed there are 41 facilities at 23 chemical sites where the country stored an estimated 1,300 tons of precursors and over 1,200 munitions. In the first report to the United Nations Security Council, OPCW chief Ahmet Uzumcu said the organization had confirmed evidence from 37 of those 41 facilities. According to Uzumcu’s report, there are 18 chemical weapons production facilities, 12 chemical weapons storage facilities, eight mobile units to fill chemical weapons, and three chemical-weapons facilities.