Specialists have started the process of destroying Syria's chemical weapons arsenal under the terms of a United Nations resolution that forces Damascus to relinquish its banned weapons by the middle of next year.
An official with the international mission says the team will verify details of the arsenal turned over by the Syrian government and start the process of destroying the weapons and production facilities.
AAP reports they face the massive task of destroying an estimated 1000 tonnes of the nerve agent sarin, mustard gas and other banned arms at dozens of sites in Syria.
The speed with which they have been able to reach the sites and start the process of destruction underlines the urgency of the mission.
At a briefing last week, one of the specialists from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons told the BBC its first task was to render unusable the machinery and precursors used to prepare Syria's chemical arsenal.
He said this would be done by any means necessary and could involve the use of sledge hammers to destroy equipment.
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Conditions tough for internally displaced Syrians
A New Zealander who's just spent a week in Syria holds little hope of the conflict being resolved any time soon.
Freelance journalist Glen Johnson left the country on Wednesday, just hours after the UN weapons inspectors began arriving in Damascus.
While more than a million Syrians have fled the country, there are millions who have lost their homes but are stuck in the war-torn country.
He says conditions for those people, known as Internally Displaced Persons'are tough.
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