UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday proposed the establishment of a team of about 100 people based in Cyprus "in order to achieve the timely elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons programme in the safest and most secure manner possible."

In a letter to the UN Security Council, the secretary-general proposed the establishment of a Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations to verify the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons in accordance with the latest resolution unanimously adopted by the 15-nation UN body.

"The Joint Mission will establish a staging area and support base in Cyprus," the secretary-general said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Xinhua.

"The Joint Mission will be headed by a civilian special coordinator, whom I would appoint in close consultation with the director-general of the OPCW, at the level of (UN) under-secretary-general," Ban said.

Ban told the Security Council that he made the proposal after his consultation with the director-general of the OPCW, Ahmet Uzumcu.