Syria has sent off a third shipment of chemical weapons, loading it on board a Norwegian cargo vessel to be shipped to a destruction point off-shore.  But even though some more chemical weapons have been destroyed inside the country, Syria is still behind schedule in getting rid of its banned weapons.

“The Syrian Arab Republic is encouraged to expedite systematic, predictable and high-volume movements to complete the safe removal of chemical materials,” read the joint statement from the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Syria has recently missed several deadlines in an internationally-agreed destruction timetable.  So far, only around 30 of 1,300 tonnes have been removed – four percent of “priority one” chemicals and roughly the same percentage of “priority two”.  Western diplomats said the Syrians would need to make a shipment every two days to get back on schedule.