Chemical weapons watchdog delegation meets with Syria’s new leaders

Last year, the enactment besides recovered the Islamic State radical had utilized mustard state against the municipality of Marea.

The delegation, which met with President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, includes method experts who anticipation to marque interaction with their Syrian counterparts.

Since the overthrow of the Assad government, the Qatari embassy successful The Hague has acted arsenic the intermediary betwixt the caller enactment and the OPCW.

OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias said successful a connection that the talks were “long, productive and precise open” and that the sojourn was “a archetypal measurement towards re-establishing a nonstop moving narration betwixt the OPCW… and Syria, pursuing eleven years of stagnation and deficiency of advancement with the erstwhile authorities.”

Arias said the meetings had focused connected Syria’s responsibilities nether the Chemical Weapons Convention and connected the enactment OPCW could connection successful “eliminating the remnants of Syria’s chemic weapons program.”

The destiny of the country’s stockpile of toxic chemicals spurred an exigency gathering by the OPCW days aft Assad was overthrown successful a lightning rebel violative successful December. The enactment told Syria’s caller rulers that they indispensable comply with rules to safeguard and destruct unsafe substances, specified arsenic chlorine gas.

OPCW officials besides voiced concerns that a barrage of Israeli airstrikes that deed subject sites of the erstwhile Syrian service whitethorn person led to contamination with toxic substances oregon demolition of evidence. The OPCW’s 193 subordinate states are required to disclose their chemic weapons programs and dismantle them. The organization, created successful 1997 by the Chemical Weapons Convention, seeks to destruct each chemic weapons. It was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize successful 2013 for its work.

The enactment initially made immoderate advancement successful cataloging Syria’s stockpile of restricted chemicals, including sarin and chlorine, but a deteriorating narration with the Assad authorities made further inspections impossible. Saturday’s sojourn is the archetypal clip OPCW officials person been to Syria since 2022.