Syria not deliberately stalling on chemicals removal - official

The head of an international chemical weapons mission in Syria said on Thursday she does not believe the Syrian government is deliberately delaying the transfer of its chemical arsenal abroad.

"No I don't think so," Sigrid Kaag told reporters when asked if the Syrian government may be deliberately stalling. "Delays are not insurmountable. Delays have a reason, there's a rationale, there's a context."

Kaag briefed the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors on Thursday. The U.N. Security Council called on Syria "to expedite actions to meet its obligation to transport in a systematic and sufficiently accelerated manner all relevant chemicals to Latakia for removal from Syrian territory."