UN calls on Syria to guarantee chemical weapons

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UN calls on Syria to guarantee chemical weapons

UN Security Council members called for Syria to give guarantees regarding chemical weapons after a global watchdog concluded it had conducted a chlorine attack in 2018, accusations rejected by Damascus.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons blamed Damascus for the strike on the rebel-held town of Douma last month, killing 43 people.

The OPCW report, which was discussed by the Council on Tuesday, said there were reasonable grounds to believe that at least one Syrian air force helicopter had dropped two cylinders of toxic gas on the town.

We welcome this report as an important step in establishing the truth about the horrific 2018 attack on Douma, the United States, Britain, France, Albania, Ecuador, Japan, Malta and Switzerland.

Damascus denies the use of chemical weapons and insists it handed over its stockpiles under a 2013 agreement, prompted by a suspected sarin gas attack that killed 1,400 in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

The Council members said that Syria is still in breach of its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and poses an ongoing threat to international peace and security. The statement stated that we will not give up until we have assurances from the OPCW that Syria has taken the actions necessary to exclude from the possibility of the use of chemical weapons anywhere, at any time, under any circumstances.

British Ambassador Barbara Woodward said she was deeply concerned that President Bashar al-Assad's regime has been working hard to rebuild its chemical weapons stockpile since at least 2018. Syria rejected the findings of the OPCW, backed by its ally Russia, who questioned the organization's integrity.

Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia said the OPCW had become a powerless and controllable instrument in the hands of western states Damascus and Moscow. The April 7, 2018 attack was directed by rescue workers at the behest of the United States, which launched air strikes on Syria and Britain and France.