Albania on November 15 rejected a request from the US to host the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile. Analysts say Tirana’s refusal is a major blow to international efforts to destroy Damascus’ chemical arsenal by mid-2014.

“It is impossible for Albania to get involved in this operation,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said in a televised address.

Rama made the announcement with hundreds of protesters opposed to the plan camped outside his office.

The UN Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is overseeing the international effort to dismantle Syria’s estimated 1,000 ton chemical arsenal, which includes mustard gas and the deadly nerve agent sarin. The US suggested a plan to involve Albania in its efforts.

Albania, a member of NATO, is one of only three nations worldwide that has declared a chemical weapons stockpile to the OPCW and destroyed it. Nations including the United States and Russia also have declared stockpiles, but have not yet completed their destruction.

Syria says it wants the weapons destroyed outside the country and the OPCW has described that as the “most viable” option. A Friday morning meeting of the OPCW’s Executive Council in The Hague was adjourned to allow national delegations to work on the wording of the plan.

Any destruction of Syria’s weapons, wherever it happens, will be overseen by experts from the Hague-based OPCW, which won the Nobel Peace Prize this year for its efforts to eradicate poison gas and nerve agents around the world. neonline