The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced Friday that all of Syria’s unfilled canisters for use in chemical weapons has been destroyed.
The announcement marks a major step in the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons abilities.
The destruction of the canisters were near the city of Homs which had been inaccessible due to fighting from the country’s civil war.
The experts from the OPCW also verified that buildings used to construct chemical weapons have been partially destroyed. The buildings will be completely razed.
The joint OPCW-UN team said they plan to remove most of toxic materials from Syria by the end of the year to meet the mid-2014 deadline for destruction of all weapons.
An official with the United Nations says evidence is growing against Syrian President Bashir al-Assad.
Navi Pillay, head of the U.N.’s human rights office, said a panel investigating the abuses in the Syrian civil war has found “massive evidence” showing the crimes were initiated at the highest levels of the Syrian government including the head of state.
Pillay later denied knowing the names on the investigator’s secret list of suspects but her remarks about a head of state being involved goes against all previous U.N. investigations into war crimes. Investigators, who work independently of Pillay’s office, have previously said evidence points to high levels of the government but did not implicate al-Assad.
The U.N. Human Rights Office says that accountability for war crimes should be part of any agreement ending the civil war.
The question about al-Assad remaining in power is a point of contention between the United States and Russia as the superpowers work to bring the sides of the war to the peace table.
A group of Islamists have captured the ancient quarter of the Christian town of Maaloula and are holding nuns hostage inside a monastery.
Reports say terrorists linked to the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nursa Front stormed the Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Thecla and are keeping the nuns hostage. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the Islamists captured the town after four days of intense fighting.
The capture of the town reportedly was part of a rebel surge to obtain control of a central Syrian Highway between Damascus and Homs.
The government capturing the highway is seen as a key objective for the al-Assad government as it would allow the country’s cache of chemical weapons to be transported for removal and destruction.
“Security remains a key challenge for all. The destruction of a chemical weapons program has never taken place under such challenging and dangerous conditions,” Sigrid Kaag, head of the joint mission of the U.N. and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons told OPCW delegates.
Pope Francis made a statement Thursday that the Catholic Church would not accept a Middle East that is devoid of Christians.
The Pope told reporters after a meeting with patriarchs in Syria, Iran and Iraq the church would not resign itself to a Christian-free Middle East. The Pope called for “the universal right to lead a dignified life and freely practice one’s own faith to be respected.”
“Syria, Iraq, Egypt and other areas of the Holy Land sometimes overflow with tears,” The Pope said.
The number of Christians in the Middle East continues to dwindle through oppression and civil war. Christians are just 10% of the Egyptian population, 5% in Syria, 2% in Iraq and 1.2% in Palestinian territories.
The Vatican said the population of Christians in the region has shrunk more than half since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The rebels attempting to overthrow the government of Bashir al-Assad took a major hit over the weekend with the death of a major rebel commander.
Abdul Qadir al-Saleh, the leader of the Liwa al-Tawlid, died overnight from wounds sustained in an air strike on a rebel held air base in Aleppo province on Thursday. The group is one of the major rebel forces in Syria with around 10,000 fighters. The group was the leaders of the rebels who took the city of Aleppo from government troops.
The brigade’s intelligence and financial chief died in the same attack.
“As an individual, he was very, very important, certainly in the Aleppo area, but increasingly as an individual that many in Syria felt represented the revolution,” IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre Charles Lister told the AFP news agency. “He came from a humble background, was outwardly religious but was very open… and he maintained extremely good relations with almost all groups of all different natures.”
Observers say it’s likely the rebel group will rally after the death of their leader to launch a major counter-offensive against government forces.
An al-Qaeda linked rebel group in Syria was in such a rush to post a violent video, they accidentally beheaded a commander of a fellow rebel group.
The members of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham asked fellow rebel groups for “understanding and forgiveness” for the killing of their ally and putting his head on display.
A spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq said that Mohammed Fares had believed he had been captured by pro-Assad fighters and asked them to kill him.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government announced they were working with Russia to bring all sides to the table in Geneva for a second major peace conference. The U.S. and Russia have been trying to broker a peace conference since May.
The main opposition group in Syria’s civil war had told U.S. and Russian negotiators they would be willing to come to the bargaining table if certain conditions are put in place.
The Syrian National Coalition said if the Syrian government allows humanitarian relief into besieged areas and they release women & children who have been taken captive by military troops they will agree to meet in Geneva.
However, the group refused to waive their demand any future government not include current president Bashir al-Assad. The Syrian government said they would not negotiate if that remains a condition of peace.
The Syrian government had agreed to ease the blockade on the rebel held town near the capital of Damascus. Food and flour entered the town of Qudsaya after the government was told markets had run out of food and poor civilians trapped by the fighting were unable to feed their children.
The war’s focus has shifted again to Aleppo where rebels are attempting to take control of the airport. Aleppo International Airport has been closed for a year because of the continual attacks.
European allies of the U.S. are reporting that Russia has quietly begun to make plans on dealing with a post-Assad Syria.
Russia has been a staunch supporter of the Syrian president throughout the civil war and has blocked United Nations actions against Syria on multiple occasions. Now, sources say the Russians are telling other diplomats they are not fixated on Assad.
“The Russians say they are not married to Assad,” a European diplomat told Fox News. “They are looking for true alternatives to Assad.”
The Russian Embassy in Washington declined to comment on Fox’s report repeating their believe that the Syrian people should decide Syria’s destiny.
Western government and Russia have been trying to get both sides of the Syrian civil war to the bargaining table but have acknowledged that it is unlikely to take place before the end of the year.
The UN-Arab League envoy to Syria has announced a delay in a peace conference planned for Geneva this month.
Lakhdar Brahimi said that after meeting with senior diplomats it was impossible to arrange a date for the conference. He said that he hopes to be able to bring all sides in the Syrian Civil War to the table before the end of 2013.
Brahimi said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is growing impatient with the situation and wants to have a conference happen as quickly as possible.
One of the key issues is between the U.S. and Russia, which are at odds about whether to include Iran as part of the peace process.
The Syrian opposition is fractured and asking for different demands other than the removal of President Bashir al-Assad. The Syrian government says that is a non-starter and will not hold peace talks if that is part of the process.
Israeli warplanes struck a target near the Syrian port city of Latakia Thursday night according to senior Obama administration officials.
The target was a missile storage site. Middle eastern press outlets reported the explosions but the Israeli government has not confirmed they were responsible for the attack.
Israel had long said that they would take any step to stop Syria from providing weapons to Hezbollah or any other group designated as terrorists. The Israeli government has also said they would stop weapons that could be used to attack Israel from being taken into Lebanon.
Terrorist group Hezbollah has entered the Syrian civil war backing up the government forces of Bashir al-Assad. The attack is not the first time Israel has attacked weapons believed to be designated for Hezbollah. Israeli forces attacked a convoy in January transporting weapons from Syria to Lebanon.
