DAMASCUS, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The UN chemical experts started Sunday their first field visits in Syria, a well-placed source told Xinhua.
The source, who asked not to be named, said the experts started Sunday their first field trips but stopped short of giving further details about their destination.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese al-Manar TV said the chemical team, which had been dispatched to Syria to help destroying its chemical arsenal in accordance with a new UN resolution, started the process of destructing the chemical stockpiles of Syria.
The team, combined of experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations, said in a statement last week that it had made "encouraging initial progress" in Syria.
The team arrived in Syria on Tuesday and started meetings with Syrian foreign ministry officials before starting Sunday their ground work to find and dismantle an estimated 1,000-ton chemical arsenal in Syria.
The United Nations Security Council has ordered the OPCW to help Syria destroy its chemical weapons by mid-2014. It gives inspectors about nine months to complete their task. In a week, the OPCW mission will be expanded as more investigators arrive.
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