Region

WASHINGTON — A US cargo ship departed Monday on a mission to destroy dozens of containers of deadly chemical weapons being removed from Syria as part of international efforts to dismantle that country’s poison gas and nerve agent programme.

Defence officials said the MV Cape Ray, which was loaded with sophisticated equipment, left Monday night for the roughly two-week trip across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean. The mission was delayed briefly when there was an electrical problem with one of the ship’s two main engines.

The Virginia-based Cape Ray is headed to the Italian Port of Gioia Tauro, where the Syrian chemicals will be transferred to the ship. The chemicals include raw materials for making sarin and mustard gas and they will be destroyed on board the Cape Ray at sea.

On Monday, a second shipment of chemical weapons was loaded onto Danish and Norwegian ships at the Port of Latakia in Syria, according to a statement from the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The ships were expected to stay in international waters off Syria waiting for additional loads.

Security challenges in Syria have slowed the transport of the materials to the port there where they are then loaded onto the ships. The Danish and Norwegian cargo vessels will transfer the chemicals onto the Cape Ray at the Gioia Tauro port.

Officials have said that about 700 tons of chemical weapons will be destroyed.

The 198-metre Cape Ray is carrying two massive machines, called field deployable hydrolysis systems, which will mix the chemicals with heated water and other chemicals to break down the toxic weapons in a titanium reactor, making them inert.

The Cape Ray belongs to the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration, but control of the ship transferred to the US Navy’s sealift command Monday morning. Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said Monday that there was a crew of about 35 civilian mariners on the ship and some technical experts. More than 60 experts needed to operate the hydrolysis machines as well as other security and support staff are expected to be on the ship for the eventual chemical transfer. Most of those will board the Cape Ray at a later date.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, in a message to the ship’s crew members, hailed their historic mission.

“You are about to accomplish something no one has tried,” Hagel said. “You will be destroying, at sea, one of the world’s largest stockpiles of chemical weapons and helping make a safer world.”

The confirmed use of chemical weapons in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta on August 21, in which the US government said 1,400 people died, prompted a US-Russian agreement to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons by mid-2014.

AJDABIYA, Libya — A deal to lift an armed blockade of Libyan oil ports and restart exports could be possible within two weeks after talks with the government advanced on key demands, a senior leader of the protest movement said.

The group, led by a former rebel who once battled leader Muammar Qadhafi, seized three major eastern ports in summer to demand a greater share of oil wealth and more regional autonomy, choking off 600,000 barrels per day of oil exports.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan’s government in Tripoli has been trying to reopen the ports as it faces a budget crunch that risks deepening unrest in the OPEC producer. Oil exports, Libya’s lifeline, have more than halved since summer.

Deputies from the General National Congress (GNC) parliament and tribal leaders have tried mediate to end the port seizures, but so far government and federalists led by Al Ibrahim Jathran have engaged only in a war of words.

But Abb-Rabbo Al Barassi, prime minister of the self-declared eastern region government, told Reuters that Tripoli and his federalist movement are closing the gap, and a deal to resolve the standoff of oil ports could be weeks away.

“I see progress with the state, the government, the General National Congress (GNC) assembly,” he said in an interview in the group’s base in Ajdabiya town. “I think it won’t take longer than two weeks to reach a deal, God willing. Maybe even less than that.”

Oil markets have been sceptical of such announcements in the past as militias and tribesmen wrangling for power in the post-Qadhafi era reach deals which often fall apart. Talks with Jathran’s group to reopen the seized Ras Lanuf, Es-Sider and Zueitina ports failed at the last minute in December.

But Barassi, a former army colonel, said Zeidan’s and GNC head Nuri Ali Abu Sahmain had noticeably softened their stance towards his group.

“We are optimistic. Even Mr Ali Zeidan’s comments are not as sharp as they used to be. Also Nuri Sahmain is also not so tough anymore in his language,” he said. “There’s no threat of using force, but a will to talk.”

Barassi spoke in the reception room of his new home reachable only along a pot-holed dirt track. A pro-Jathran television station blared in the background as assistants and relatives served coffee and oranges.

Dragging into its six-month, Libya’s oil standoff has often appeared like a war of attrition, with Zeidan and Jathran exchange warnings.

But Barassi also appeared to take a softer tone than previous federalist statements.

“We are not enemies. We don’t deal with the government and the GNC as enemies. We may have different views, on how to work...but we haven’t used force.”

Three demands

The federalists, who command thousands of former state oil security guards, have made three demands to reopen the ports.

They include Tripoli investigating oil corruption and selling oil under supervision of the three Libyan regions from pre-Qadhafi times — Cyrenaica in the east, Tripolitania in the west and southern Fezzan.

“The latest talk [from the government] is that there are no problems with the first two demands,” he said. Zeidan, who calls Jathran’s group illegal, has said it was willing to investigate oil corruption.

Barassi said the third demand calling for oil sales to be shared among the three regions based on a law from the pre-Qadhafi-era was difficult for Zeidan because accepting would mean recognising the idea of a federal state.

Jathran and others in the east are campaigning for federal structure, which was in place before Qadhafi came to power. Officials in Tripoli fear this could lead to secession.

Barassi said his group was trying to address Zeidan’s concerns over the third demand.

“We are in dialogue with them and we can readjust it,” he said. He declined to elaborate, saying only that the group expected within two days to receive a response from Tripoli to an adjusted proposal.

Little to do

Barassi insisted that the group might try selling oil on its own should talks fail but said it had decided for now not to sign anything and wait for the outcome of the talks.

“We want to sell oil the right way,” he said. “We talked to firms who signed deals with the state before and we spoke with new ones to get contracts.”

“But we told them to wait until there is an agreement with the government so there is a contract with the state in a complete way,” he said, declining to give names.

He said some potential buyers were concerned about safe passage to the seized ports. The Libyan navy earlier this month said it had opened fire on a Malta-flagged tanker trying to reach es-Sider port to load oil.

“Some firms are fearful,” the federalist leader said.

Originally from the eastern town of Beida, Barassi runs the self-declared government from a temporary base in Ajdabiya. But he said there was little to do for his 23-strong Cabinet including ministers for industry, health and education.

“It’s right that we don’t have work. We wait for oil exports or a budget,” he said.

The group has also founded the Libya Oil and Gas Corp to sell oil when it can. Barassi said the firm consisted of former staff from state National Oil Corp (NOC) based in ports who are sympathetic to federalists — a claim denied by Tripoli.

Based in nearby Brega, the federalist oil company appears less impressive than the colourful letterheaded statements it recently sent to oil markets suggesting it could offer tankers safe passage to the ports.

“We’ve only appointed a director for the firm,” he said.

BEIRUT — The Syrian army is edging its way towards southeastern Aleppo as it battles rebel fighters for control of the northern city, a monitor and a pro-government daily said Tuesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was a “limited advance” but the first by government troops in more than a year, and that residents fearing a major operation were fleeing the region.

The troops have gained some ground in Aleppo in the past few weeks, taking advantage of the fact that rebels who hold larges swathes of territory have turned their guns against jihadist fighters.

“The Syrian army made a limited advance, for the first time in more than a year, and seized the Karm Al Qasr district on the southeastern fringes of Aleppo,” held by the rebels, said the Observatory.

The offensive was launched from Nairab military airport east of Aleppo, Syria’s second city and pre-war commercial hub.

Al Watan newspaper, which is close to President Bashar Al Assad’s government, said the troops made the advance on Monday and also seized the districts of Ballura and Kasr Al Tarrab.

It too said the operation had been launched from Nairab airport in the east, as well as Aziza village in the south, while adding it had reached the outskirts of Mayssar, a rebel bastion in southeast Aleppo.

The Observatory said residents of Mayssar, nearby Marjeh and Enzarrat were fleeing their homes for “neighbourhoods controlled by regime forces... because of the fighting”.

Al Watan also reported the exodus.

Since December 15, Aleppo has been the target of an aerial offensive that has killed hundreds, mostly civilians.

On Tuesday at least three people were killed in regime air raids that targeted Qadi Askar and Mayssar, said the Observatory.

On Saturday, Aleppo-based activist Mohammad Wissam said the army has taken advantage of the fact that rebels have recently turned their sights against jihadists.

“The army has deployed en masse around the east of the city, and families residing in the area have started to flee for other safer neighbourhoods and villages” fearing an all-out assault, he said.

Aleppo has been devastated by fighting between government and rebel forces that began in mid-2012.

Control of the city is now divided between the regime and rebels, and the opposition also holds much of Aleppo province.

In other violence a Saudi suicide bomber and fighter from the Al Nusra Front jihadist group blew himself up at an army checkpoint late Monday, killing 13 soldiers and pro-regime militiamen, the Observatory said. 

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the World Economic Forum make it clear he is against the establishment of a Palestinian state, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has said.

“Anyone who says they want the settlers to remain is actually saying they don’t want the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Erekat said in remarks published Monday in Palestinian daily Al Ayyam.

Erekat was reacting to comments by Netanyahu at last week’s WEF gathering in Davos, where the premier insisted Israel would not evacuate Jewish settlements built on occupied land the Palestinians want for their future state.

Netanyahu has publicly supported the two-state solution during US-sponsored talks which envisage the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a final peace agreement.

But at Davos, the premier told Israeli journalists at a briefing, “I have said before and I say again; I do not intend to dismantle any settlement, I don’t intend to uproot any Israeli.”

His comments were broadcast on public radio.

Israel’s settlements, which are illegal under international law, are a key sticking point that is preventing peace talks from making any visible progress.

Some Israeli media said that Netanyahu was speaking in response to a question specifically about the Jordan Valley, the part of the occupied West Bank bordering Jordan.

Israel insists on maintaining a long-term military presence in the Jordan Valley as a buffer against attacks on Israel, while the Palestinians want an international security force deployed there for their own security.

But angry Israeli hardliners on Monday linked Netanyahu’s Davos comments to a report by an international news agency that the premier is floating the idea of existing settlements being leased from the Palestinians in a future Palestinian state.

“We do not leave settlers behind enemy lines,” Deputy Defence Minister Danny Danon, a hawkish member of Netanyahu’s own Likud Party, told army radio.

“It’s an idea of leaving Jews, abandoning Jews to the control of the Palestinians,” Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin, also of Likud, told the station.

“It’s a red line, contrary to the beliefs of the national camp, the beliefs of the Likud,” he said.

Settler leader Dani Danon told AFP that the concept of settlements no longer being under Israeli sovereignty was a “political, security and Zionist aberration”.

Veteran political analyst Shimon Shiffer said that the news agency report, which Netanyahu’s office neither confirms nor denies, was a deliberate attempt to draw a hostile response from the Palestinians, painting them as rejecting peace.

“Netanyahu... is trying to push the settlers into a corner and challenge the Palestinian side, knowing that the latter will reply with a resounding negative,” he wrote in the top-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper.

Maariv’s Shalom Yerushalmi suggested that the premier was playing for time.

“The settlements will certainly be removed, but the prime minister will not be the one to remove them,” he wrote.

“This will be a gradual process in any case, and by the time we reach the removal of the settlements Netanyahu will no longer be there.”

TUNIS — Tunisia adopted a new constitution on Monday, a big stride towards democracy in the country that began the Arab Spring revolutions and has largely avoided the chaos and violence now plaguing the neighbours it inspired.

After years under autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia’s charter has been praised as one of the most progressive in the Arab world, designating Islam as the state religion but protecting freedom of belief and sexual equality.

Parliament erupted in celebrations after the official signing of the constitution. Lawmakers approved it on Sunday evening, ending months of deadlock that had threatened to undo Tunisia’s transition.

“This is an exceptional day for Tunisia, where we celebrate the victory over dictatorship. The government and the opposition have won, Tunisia has won,” President Moncef Marzouki told the assembly after signing.

The small North African country’s steady progress contrasts sharply with turmoil in Libya and Egypt, whose people followed Tunisia in ousting their veteran leaders in 2011.

Tunisia’s stock market rose 1.7 per cent on Monday in a sign of investor confidence in the country’s stability, with the constitution in place and the formation of a new caretaker Cabinet that will govern until elections.

After months of crisis, Tunisia’s transition got back on track when ruling Islamist party Ennahda agreed to compromise late last year and step down to make way for a non-political Cabinet of experts, led by former minister Mehdi Jomaa.

Hours before Sunday’s approval of the constitution, new Prime Minister Jomaa named technocrats with international experience to key posts such as finance minister and foreign minister.

No election date has been set, but Ennahda and opposition party Nidaa Tounes, headed by a former Ben Ali official, are expected to battle for the presidency.

In the National Assembly and on the street, political divisions about the role of Islam were forgotten in the celebrations over a constitution that United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon commended as a “milestone”.

“It is the first time we have been so united since the revolution,” said Asma Habaib, a young bank worker in central Tunis. “It is like another revolution.”

Challenges ahead

One of the most secular nations in the Arab world, Tunisia struggled after its 2011 revolution with divisions over the role of Islam and the rise of Islamist ultra-conservatives.

Ennahda Party won the most seats in parliament, but the assassination of two opposition leaders last year pitched the country into crisis. Increasing deadlock in Tunisia, and the Egyptian army’s deposing of its Islamist president in July, eventually prompted a compromise between Ennahda’s chief Rached Ghannouchi and the opposition.

Divisions are still present, but Tunisia’s leaders, heavily reliant on tourism for its foreign income, and with no tradition of violence or military interventions, opted to battle at the ballot box, not on the street.

Following that example will be tough for its North African neighbours.

Two years after its own NATO-backed revolt toppled autocratic leader Muammar Qadhafi, neighbouring Libya is caught in messy transition, with its constitution undrafted, its transitional parliament still deadlocked and former rebel fighters refusing to disarm.

In Egypt, elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was ousted by the army and jailed, and his Muslim Brotherhood movement declared a terrorist organisation.

Egyptians approved their own new constitution this month, but the country is still beset by political violence as army chief General Abdel Fattah Al Sisi pushes forward a transition plan that is expected to lead to him running for the presidency.

Tunisia’s new premier Jomaa has plenty of challenges to secure stability before the elections in a country where many complain about the high cost of living and a lack of economic opportunities.

Islamist militants have been a growing threat in Tunisia, which shares a porous border with Libya, where Al Qaeda-linked militants have sought refuge. A suicide bombing at a Tunisian beach resort late last year showed its vulnerability.

International lenders also want Tunisia to curb public spending on subsidies on fuel and basic goods to control the budget deficit. Protests broke out recently over a tax increase, forcing the government to roll back the measure.

“The adoption of a new constitution is an important step in reducing political uncertainty in Tunisia,” Fitch Ratings agency said in a statement. “But easing political and social tensions will be a long and challenging process.”

BAGHDAD — Late night attacks in Sunni Arab areas north of Baghdad pushed the overall death toll from violence in Iraq a day earlier to 26, security and medical officials said Monday.

The protracted surge in nationwide unrest, coupled with a deadly standoff in Anbar province between security forces and anti-government fighters, has left more than 850 people dead so far this month.

Diplomats and foreign leaders have urged Iraq’s Shiite-led government to address long-term grievances in the disaffected Sunni community to undercut support for militants, but with elections due in April, Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has taken a hard line.

Violence in Anbar, as well as Baghdad and several areas north of the capital on Sunday left at least 26 people dead and dozens more wounded, officials said on Monday, updating previous tolls.

The deadliest of the violence struck in Abu Ghraib, a Sunni Arab town to the west of Baghdad, where eight people were killed in separate incidents — six soldiers were gunned down in a checkpoint attack, while a bombing on a busy road killed two people.

Gunmen in Baghdad killed four people in two different shootings, including a former Iraqi army general, while militants targeting local officials in Baqouba and Mosul, two of the country’s most violent cities, left three dead.

Three car bombs in the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk killed four more people, and another car bomb in the town of Mishahda left three dead.

And in Fallujah, which has been out of government hands for several weeks, a mother and her three children were killed when a blast struck their home, a doctor said. It was unclear if heavy artillery or smaller rockets were responsible for the explosion.

The latest bloodshed pushed the overall death toll for the month above 850 — more than three times the toll for January 2013, according to an AFP tally.

It comes as security forces are locked in battles with militants, including those affiliated with Al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), in Anbar, a mostly-Sunni desert region west of Baghdad that shares a border with Syria.

ISIL has been involved in the fighting, and witnesses and tribal leaders in Fallujah say the group has tightened its grip on the city in recent days, but other militant groups have also battled security forces and their tribal allies.

The standoff has forced more than 140,000 people to flee their homes, the UN refugee agency said, describing this as the worst displacement in Iraq since the 2006-08 sectarian conflict.

CAIRO — Egypt’s top military council gave the army chief, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, a green light on Monday to seek election as president, a vote he is almost sure to win with Egyptians weary of turmoil unleashed by a pro-democracy uprising in 2011.

Sisi deposed elected Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July after mass unrest over his increasingly arbitrary and erratic rule, kindling political chaos and security crackdowns on dissent in the Arab world’s most populous nation.

He has since taken on almost cult-like popularity in Egypt with many seeing him as a decisive figure able to stabilise a country that has lurched from one economically ruinous crisis to another since the 2011 overthrow of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

“[The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces] is looking forward with respect and reverence to the desire of the huge masses of the great Egyptian people in the nomination of...Abdel Fattah Al Sisi for the presidency of the republic, which it considers a mandate and an obligation,” the military high command said in a statement.

“The top army officials all okayed Sisi running for the presidency,” said a security source. The 59-year-old career officer is expected to announce his candidacy within days.

Hours before top generals approved Sisi contesting the election, the presidency announced he had been promoted to field marshal from general, in what security officials said was a sign he is about to declare his candidacy for the presidency.

“The decision was expected and it is the first step before the resignation of the general and his candidacy announcement, which is now expected very soon,” said a security official.

In order for Sisi to contest the election, he has to resign from his post as defence minister and from the military.

After toppling Morsi, Sisi unveiled a political roadmap that promised free and fair elections in Egypt, which is of great strategic importance because of its 1979 peace treaty with Israel and control of the Suez Canal.

But despite his popularity, Sisi has no pedigree as a democrat and has shown himself willing to apply deadly force against those who disagree with him.

Islamists accuse Sisi of coup

The Muslim Brotherhood accuses him of staging a coup by effectively putting Egyptian government back under the domination of the military as it was before Mubarak’s exit and aborting its professed transition to democracy.

The Brotherhood holds Sisi responsible for what it says are widespread human rights abuses in a security crackdown that has killed nearly 1,000 Islamists. Top Brotherhood leaders including Morsi are all in jail and facing trial.

But, in addition to many people in the street, Sisi enjoys the backing of the army, Egypt’s most powerful institution, as well as the interior ministry, many liberal politicians and Mubarak-era officials and businessmen who have made a comeback since the political demise of Morsi.

Judging by his appeal, those forces are likely to give him plenty of time to prove himself as president, and there are no other politicians who could challenge Sisi anytime soon.

Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Bahaa El Din, a moderate in the army-backed government, tendered his resignation on Monday.

Din, a lawyer, had called for a more inclusive political process in a nation that, crippled by prolonged violent unrest that has shattered the economy, appears to be growing less tolerant of dissent by the day.

“A crucial stage of the roadmap is now over. It required keeping a unified front and avoiding disputes in order for the nation to emerge from constitutional and economic collapse,” said a letter posted on Din’s Facebook page said. “Now that we start a new phase where the country is preparing for successive elections... I ask that you accept my resignation.”

Din is in charge of an economic team that includes the ministers of finance, trade and industry, supply, planning and investment, as well as the governor of the central bank.

GENEVA — The United States on Monday demanded that Syria allow aid into the “starving” city of Homs, as talks aimed at ending three years of civil war hit more trouble over the future of President Bashar Assad.

The Syrian government said women and children could leave the besieged city and that rebels should hand over the names of the men who would remain. A US State Department spokesman said an evacuation was not an alternative to immediate aid.

“We firmly believe that the Syrian regime must approve the convoys to deliver badly needed humanitarian assistance into the Old City of Homs now,” said spokesman Edgar Vasquez. “The situation is desperate and the people are starving.”

He said the people of Homs must not be forced to leave their homes and split up their families before receiving aid.

After long months of fighting, much of Syria’s third biggest city has been reduced to rubble and people inside are under siege, cut off from supplies.

The city’s fate has turned into a test of whether the first peace talks attended by both sides in the three-year war can achieve practical measures on the ground, while a broader political settlement seems as remote as ever.

The UN mediator said he hoped Monday’s talks in Geneva could cover the central issue that divides the two sides — Syria’s political future and that of Assad — but both sides immediately adopted entrenched positions.

“Once again, I tell you we never expected any miracle, there are no miracles here. But we will continue and see if progress can be made and when,” UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said.

Syria’s government delegation presented a document for negotiation which did not mention a transition of power, Syrian television said.

The government’s “declaration of basic principles” said Syrians would choose a political system without “imposed formulas” from abroad, an apparent reference to Western and regional demands that Assad step down.

The opposition, which wants Assad to quit as part of arrangements for a transitional government, immediately rejected the proposal.

“The declaration is outside the framework of Geneva, which centres on creating a transitional governing body. It fails to address the core issue,” the opposition’s chief negotiator, Hadi Al Bahra, told Reuters.

Strategic location

Homs, occupying a strategic location in the centre of the country, has been a key battleground. Assad’s forces retook many of the surrounding areas last year, leaving rebels under siege in the city centre, along with thousands of civilians.

Children play in the rubble that litters the streets. The city’s buildings are smashed and its mosques are holed by shellfire. In one deserted souk, debris lies in the aisles and the roof is shredded with bullet holes.

A photo recently posted on Facebook shows a frail boy in Homs holding a poster that reads: “Breaking the siege is a non-negotiable demand.”

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told a news conference on Sunday the government would let women and children leave the city centre if rebels gave them safe passage. Brahimi said he understood they would be free to quit Homs immediately.

Western diplomats said the Syrian government should move quickly to allow aid in or face a possible United Nations Security Council resolution, with Russia and China being urged to reverse their opposition to such a move.

“The ball is still in the regime’s court. We understand that a report has gone back to Damascus seeking instructions,” one diplomat said.

In Homs itself, opposition activists said rebels demanded a complete end to the blockade, not just a limited ceasefire. An online video showed demonstrators with Islamist flags denouncing the Geneva talks as “treachery”.

It highlighted one of the difficulties of the Geneva talks — the opposition delegation only represents some of the rebel factions on the ground. Powerful Islamist fighters allied to Al Qaeda are not represented at all.

Brahimi acknowledged the slow start to proceedings which began with a formal international conference on Wednesday.

“This is a political negotiation... Our negotiation is not the main place where humanitarian issues are discussed.

“But I think we all felt... that you cannot start a negotiation about Syria without having some discussion about the very, very bad humanitarian situation that exists,” he said.

Prisoners

Brahimi said opposition delegates, who have asked for the release of nearly 50,000 detainees, had agreed to a government request to try to provide a list of those held by armed rebel groups — though many of these groups, fighting among themselves, do not recognise the negotiators’ authority.

Mekdad said the government had examined an opposition list of 47,000 people believed to have been arrested by Assad’s forces and found most had either never been held or were now free. He also denied that any children were being held.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose government has helped Assad resist Western pressure but backs a negotiated peace to prevent the conflict spreading, called for progress on aid, unblocking besieged areas and prisoner exchanges.

Underlining the difficulty of implementing even local agreements on the ground, a UN agency trying to deliver aid to a besieged rebel area of Damascus said state checkpoints had hampered its work, despite assurances from the government that it would allow the distributions.

TEHRAN — The former head of the United Nations urged Iran Monday to build on a historic deal reached with world powers in November and work towards a final settlement over its contested nuclear programme.

Kofi Annan, who is heading a group of ex-world leaders known as “The Elders”, made the comments after a meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Monday.

“We believe that there have been a number of recent positive developments, most important the interim nuclear agreement signed in Geneva last November. These efforts now need to be sustained to achieve final agreement,” he told a press conference in Tehran.

Iran halted 20 per cent enrichment and started neutralising its stockpile of 20 per cent enriched uranium on January 20 to fulfil its commitments under the accord. The US and the European Union also lifted some sanctions in response to the Iranian moves.

Under the six-month deal, Iran has agreed to halt its 20 per cent enrichment programme, which produces uranium just steps away from military grade, but will continue enrichment up to 5 per cent. It also will convert half of its stockpile of 20 per cent enriched uranium to oxide, and dilute the remaining half to 5 per cent.

In return, the US and the EU simultaneously announced the lifting of sanctions on petrochemical products, insurance, gold and other precious metals, passenger plane parts and services. They also plan to release $4.2 billion Iranian assets of oil revenues blocked overseas, in 8 installments over a period of six months.

The first installment of $550 will be provided to Iran on February 1st, according to US administration officials.

Iran and the six-nation group — the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany — are expected to start talks for a comprehensive, permanent deal next month in New York, Iran’s state TV reported Monday.

Annan is accompanied by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, South Africa’s Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu and Mexican ex-president Ernesto Zedillo. The group, formed in 2007 by the late South African leader Nelson Mandela, is made up of 12 former global leaders who according to their website try “to promote peace, justice and human rights”. It is The Elders’ first visit to Iran as a group.

Encouraged by the interim accord, the Elders headed to Iran to help boost dialogue between Iran and the West.

“The purpose of the three-day visit is to encourage and advance the new spirit of openness and dialogue between Iran and the international community, and to explore what could be done to enhance cooperation on regional issues,” said a statement posted on the group’s website.

During the Monday press conference in Tehran, Annan also praised Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s proposal of a “World Against Violence and Extremism”, endorsed by the UN last year.

Annan said his group is concerned about the plight of Syrians.

“All of us, including our Iranian hosts, are deeply concerned about the tragic situation in Syria today. We must all do our best to help reduce sufferings,” he said.

Annan and his team told Iran’s former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, that the UN has failed to end bloodshed in Syria.

“The fact is that the UN failed. Many countries gave commitments on paper but ignored them in practice,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Annan as saying.

Annan suggested that the Syrian problem can’t be resolved without Iran’s active role.

“Iran is a valuable asset for stabilising peace in the region. Whoever ignores this won’t achieve goals,” he was quoted by IRNA as saying.

WASHINGTON — A US cargo ship loaded with sophisticated equipment is setting sail Monday for the Mediterranean Sea, where it will be used to destroy dozens of containers of deadly chemical weapons being removed from Syria.

The MV Cape Ray was scheduled to leave in the afternoon for what is expected to be a roughly two-week trip to the Italian port of Gioia Tauro, where chemicals will be transferred to the ship.

The chemicals include raw materials for making sarin and mustard gas, and they will be destroyed on board the Cape Ray at sea.

On Monday, a second shipment of chemical weapons was loaded onto Danish and Norwegian ships at the port of Latakia in Syria, according to a statement from the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The ships are expected to stay in international waters off Syria waiting for additional loads.

Security challenges in Syria have slowed the transport of the materials to the port where they are loaded onto the ships. The Danish and Norwegian cargo vessels will transfer the chemicals onto the Cape Ray at the Gioia Tauro port.

Officials have said about 700 tonnes of chemical weapons will be destroyed.