Germany says it will help destroy Syria's stockpile of chemicals as part of international efforts to rid the country of the raw materials for poison gas and nerve agents.

The government said in a statement Thursday that German experts at a site near Hamburg will get rid of the byproducts created when the chemicals are destroyed _ which is currently slated to be done aboard a ship at sea.

Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen says the substances will be burned at the government-funded facility in Munster at the request of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

The first batch of toxic chemicals was loaded onto a Danish cargo ship in the Syrian port of Latakia and shipped Tuesday toward international waters. (AP)