Head of UN chemical weapons watchdog meets Syrian leader

DAMASCUS, SYRIA — 

The caput of the world's chemic weapons watchdog met Syria's caller person Saturday, successful a archetypal sojourn to Damascus since the ousting of Bashar al-Assad, who was repeatedly accused of utilizing specified weapons during Syria's 13-year civilian war.

More than a decennary ago, Syria agreed to manus implicit its declared stockpile for destruction, but the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has been acrophobic that the declaration was incomplete and that much weapons remained.

With caller authorities present successful power, the OPCW sojourn has raised anticipation that Syria volition beryllium conclusively escaped of specified weapons aft years of delays and obstructions to the body's work.

"This sojourn marks a reset. After 11 years of obstruction by the erstwhile authorities, the Syrian caretaker authorities person a accidental to crook the page," OPCW main Fernando Arias said.

The Syrian presidency said interim person Ahmed al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani received a delegation from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons led by Arias.

The presidency besides shared pictures of Sharaa and Shaibani shaking hands with Arias.

There has been wide interest astir the destiny of Syria's stockpile of chemic weapons since Assad's melodramatic overthrow astatine the hands of Islamist-led rebels.

The OPCW has besides expressed interest that invaluable grounds whitethorn person been destroyed successful aggravated Israeli strikes connected Syrian subject sites successful the aftermath of his fall.

Israel has said its targets included chemic weapons to forestall them from falling into the hands of extremists.

In 2013, Syria agreed to articulation the OPCW and disclose and manus implicit its toxic stockpile nether Russian and U.S. pressure, and to avert the menace of airstrikes by Washington and its allies.

This came aft a suspected chemic onslaught connected the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus that killed much than 1,000 people, according to U.S. intelligence, and was attributed to the Syrian government, which denied engagement and blamed rebels.

Despite insisting the usage of chemic weapons was a reddish line, then-U.S. President Barack Obama did not behaviour strikes, alternatively helium reached a woody with Russia connected the dismantlement of Syria's chemic arsenal nether U.N. supervision.

Assad's authorities had agelong denied utilizing chemic weapons.

But successful 2014, the OPCW acceptable up what it called a "fact-finding mission" to analyse chemic weapons usage successful Syria, subsequently issuing 21 reports covering 74 instances of alleged chemic weapons use.

Investigators concluded that chemic weapons were utilized oregon apt utilized successful 20 instances.

In 14 of these cases, the chemic utilized was chlorine. Sarin was utilized successful 3 cases and a mustard cause was employed successful the remaining three.

In 2021, OPCW members stripped Syria of voting rights aft a probe blamed Damascus for poison state attacks carried retired aft it had claimed the stockpile was eliminated.

In November 2023, France issued planetary apprehension warrants against Assad, his member Maher and 2 generals connected suspicion of complicity successful the 2013 chemic attacks.