Italian
"Questo è molto grave. Stanno mettendo la mia vita in pericolo. Se succede qualcosa, la gente verrà a prendermi con i forconi", ha detto il sindaco Renato Bellofiore.
"Questa è la solita decisione top-down. Siamo considerati cittadini di seconda classe", ha detto il sindaco Renato Bellofiore.
Il sindaco della vicina città di San Ferdinando, dove in realtà si trova la maggior parte del porto, ha detto "sto prendendo in considerazione di fare un decreto per chiudere l'area e impedire il trasbordo".
(2)
Ugo Cappellacci, governatore della Sardegna, ha detto che la sua isola non deve diventare la "pattumiera d'Italia". "Siamo assolutamente contrari al transito di armi chimiche siriane in Sardegna", ha detto.
English
Italy's Gioia Tauro announced as transfer port for Syrian chemical agents
Italy on Thursday named the port of Gioia Tauro in the Calabria region to receive Syrian chemical agents, including mustard gas, despite fierce opposition from local officials who slammed the move as undemocratic.
"The
government has chosen the port of Gioia Tauro as particularly
appropriate," Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi told lawmakers at a
parliamentary hearing on the operation to take place by the beginning of
February.
The operation to transfer some 500 tons of Syria's deadliest chemicals from a Danish ship to a US vessel is part of a UN-backed plan to destroy the war-torn country's chemical weapons arsenal by June 30.
The operation to transfer some 500 tons of Syria's deadliest chemicals from a Danish ship to a US vessel is part of a UN-backed plan to destroy the war-torn country's chemical weapons arsenal by June 30.
Lupi
said that an estimated 60 containers containing the chemicals,
including mustard gas and the ingredients for the nerve agents sarin and
VX, would be transferred from one ship to the other using cranes.
"There will be no stocking on land," he said.
But
the mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, spoke out against the plan
following press reports and just before the decision was officially
announced.
Italian
Foreign Minister Emma "Bonino does not know what democracy is,"
Bellofiore was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA.
(1)
(1)
"This
is very serious. They are putting my life at risk. If anything happens,
people will come and get me with pitchforks," the mayor said.
"This is the usual top-down decision. We are considered second-class citizens," he said.
The
mayor of the neighbouring town of San Ferdinando, where most of the
port is actually located, said he was "considering a town decree" to
shut down the area and prevent the trans-shipment from taking place.
The
removal and destruction of the most dangerous agents in Syria's
chemical weapons arsenal may not be completed until the end of June, the
head of the UN chemicals watchdog said on Thursday.
Ahmet
Üzümcü, who is in Rome to brief Italian authorities, told reporters the
amount of chemicals that have reached a Syrian port so far was "not that high".
The
head of the world's chemical weapons watchdog on Thursday prepared to
outline plans for the destruction of Syria's arsenal, including a
transfer operation in an Italian port that has already sparked
controversy.
Ahmet
Uzumcu, director general of the Hague-based Organisation for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), will address Italy's parliament
to name the port where the chemicals will initially be taken.
A
Danish ship this month took a first cargo of the most dangerous
materials from the Syrian port of Latakia and is now back in
international waters, awaiting a return to pick up more chemicals under
the United Nations plan.
Once
the ship has loaded some 500 tonnes of the deadliest compounds, the
plan is that it will cross the Mediterranean to Italy, with maritime
security provided by various countries including China and Russia.
In
an Italian port, the chemicals will then be transferred onto a US ship,
the MV Cape Ray, which will destroy them at sea over a period of up to
three months using specially-built mobile hydrolysis equipment.
The
MV Cape Ray is still in port in the United States and is expected to
set off later this week or early next week for the two-week voyage to
Italy.
The
US military, which will neutralise the chemicals, said in a statement
that materials will include those used to make mustard gas and the nerve
agents sarin and VX.
The
chemicals, which are only weapons if mixed and fitted on munitions,
will be combined with neutralising agents and the hazardous waste
generated will be stored on the ship and then disposed of commercially.
The operation could take as little as 45 days if the weather is calm but is expected to last 90 days.
The plan is to carry it out in international waters to exclude potential harm to civilian populations.
The
trans-loading has generated local opposition in Italy in the areas that
have been named in the local press as possible choices for the delicate
operation.
(2)
Ugo Cappellacci, the governor of Sardinia, has said he does not want his island to be "Italy's waste bin".
"We are absolutely opposed to the transit of Syrian chemical arms through Sardinia," he said on Wednesday.
Ports in the regions of Calabria, Puglia and Sicily in southern Italy have also been mentioned.
Under the UN plan, all of Syria's declared 1,290 tonne arsenal should be destroyed by June 30.
But the country's worsening conflict has caused holdups.
The
Russian and Chinese Navies have established close cooperation to ensure
safe passage during the maritime phase of the transportation of Syrian
chemical weapons in the Mediterranean Sea. The
Russian missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky assisted by the Chinese frigate
Yancheng fulfilled the responsible mission of escorting the first batch
of Syrian chemical weapons transported by the Dutch cargo ship Ark
Futura, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Russian and Chinese ships maintained close contact during the escort.
"The first joint military operation by a Russian and Chinese warships was a success," the ministry said.
Under
the initial plan, the most toxic chemicals were to be removed from
Syria by December 31, 2013. But the ongoing instability in Syria made
the deadline impossible to meet.
Voice of Russia, Reuters, AFP, RIA
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