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| Norway Rejects U.S. Request to Help Destroy Syrian Chemical Weapons | Norway Rejects U.S. Request to Help Destroy Syrian Chemical Weapons |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| LONDON — Citing regulatory constraints and time pressures, Norway said Friday that it had turned down an American request to help destroy chemical weapons as part of the effort to dismantle Syria’s arsenal of toxic munitions. | LONDON — Citing regulatory constraints and time pressures, Norway said Friday that it had turned down an American request to help destroy chemical weapons as part of the effort to dismantle Syria’s arsenal of toxic munitions. |
| The incoming government of the Conservative prime minister, Erna Solberg, has been considering the request for several weeks, and has conducted “extensive discussions” with the United States, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its Web site. | The incoming government of the Conservative prime minister, Erna Solberg, has been considering the request for several weeks, and has conducted “extensive discussions” with the United States, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its Web site. |
| “The two countries have come to the joint understanding that Norway is not the most suitable location for this destruction,” the statement said. | “The two countries have come to the joint understanding that Norway is not the most suitable location for this destruction,” the statement said. |
| Officials at the American Embassy in Oslo and at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, which is leading the effort to dismantle Syria’s stocks of poison gas and nerve agents, offered no immediate comment on the probable impact of Norway’s decision on the United Nations-backed plan to destroy the weapons by mid-2014. | |
| News reports said the United States had asked other unspecified countries apart from Norway to help destroy the stockpiles. | News reports said the United States had asked other unspecified countries apart from Norway to help destroy the stockpiles. |
| In its latest statement on the mission — part of a joint effort by Russia and the United States following an attack using poison gas in a Damascus suburb on Aug. 21 — the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said its inspectors in Syria had visited 18 of 23 sites disclosed by the Syrian authorities and had undertaken “functional destruction activities of critical equipment” at almost all of them. | In its latest statement on the mission — part of a joint effort by Russia and the United States following an attack using poison gas in a Damascus suburb on Aug. 21 — the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said its inspectors in Syria had visited 18 of 23 sites disclosed by the Syrian authorities and had undertaken “functional destruction activities of critical equipment” at almost all of them. |
| In its statement, the foreign ministry in Oslo said the authorities had taken the decision to reject the American overture because of “time constraints and external factors, such as capacities, regulatory requirements.” | In its statement, the foreign ministry in Oslo said the authorities had taken the decision to reject the American overture because of “time constraints and external factors, such as capacities, regulatory requirements.” |
| This week, Boerge Brende, the newly appointed foreign minister, said Norway lacked equipment and was forbidden by law from storing the chemical waste likely to result from destroying the Syrian weapons. | |
| At a webcast news conference on Friday, Mr. Brende said the mid-2014 deadline was too tight for Norway, The Associated Press reported, and the authorities had not been able to identify a port that could receive toxic substances. This week, Norway said it had been asked to participate in the destruction of 50 metric tons of mixed chemicals in the form of mustard gas and 300 to 500 metric tons of materials needed to make nerve agents, The A.P. said. | |
| The state broadcaster, NRK, has reported that Norway was asked to help destroy the chemicals because it is politically stable, has ample water resources needed for the processes involved and can afford to help finance the program. | The state broadcaster, NRK, has reported that Norway was asked to help destroy the chemicals because it is politically stable, has ample water resources needed for the processes involved and can afford to help finance the program. |
| The American request presented Ms. Solberg’s incoming government with a first diplomatic test after elections last month ousted her predecessor, Jens Stoltenberg. | |
| Ms. Solberg was quoted by the state broadcaster as saying her country, which is an ally of the United States within NATO, was “not negative to something the U.N. believes is important.” But Norwegian officials said the country had no experience in dealing with chemical weapons. | Ms. Solberg was quoted by the state broadcaster as saying her country, which is an ally of the United States within NATO, was “not negative to something the U.N. believes is important.” But Norwegian officials said the country had no experience in dealing with chemical weapons. |