{"id":45302,"date":"2021-05-07T17:23:37","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T17:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=45302"},"modified":"2021-05-07T17:23:37","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T17:23:37","slug":"french-fm-says-lebanon-needs-saving-from-collective-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=45302","title":{"rendered":"French FM says Lebanon needs saving from \u2018collective suicide\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nNEW YORK: A Syrian Air Force helicopter dropped a chlorine bomb on the opposition-held town of Saraqib, on Feb. 4, 2018, an investigation team from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has concluded.<\/p>\n

\nInvestigators found \u201creasonable grounds to believe\u201d at least one cylinder landed in the eastern part of the town, releasing a cloud of toxic gas that covered a large area and affected 12 people.<\/p>\n

\nThe incident was the focus on Thursday of a Security Council meeting to discuss the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, and its failure to comply with a UN resolution ordering the destruction of all such weapons. It was the 89th time the council has gathered to discuss the issue of chemical weapons in Syria.<\/p>\n

\nMembers were briefed by Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN\u2019s under-secretary-general and high representative for disarmament affairs, on the implementation of Resolution 2118. It was unanimously adopted in September 2013 following a UN investigation that confirmed the use of chemical weapons against civilians in a Damascus suburb the previous month. Images of people, including children, suffocating after breathing in the nerve agent caused outrage worldwide.<\/p>\n

\nThe resolution called on the Syrian regime to destroy its stockpiles of chemical weapons by mid-2014, and set out punitive measures in the event of non-compliance. It banned the regime from using, developing, producing, acquiring, stockpiling or retaining chemical weapons, or transferring them to other states or non-state actors.<\/p>\n

\nIn October 2013, Syria submitted to the OPCW a formal initial declaration about its chemical-weapons program, including a plan for the destruction of its stockpiles. Since then, however, the OPCW\u2019s Declaration Assessment Team has been trying to resolve outstanding issues with the regime\u2019s declaration.<\/p>\n

\nNakamitsu told the council the declaration still cannot be considered accurate and complete because of \u201cidentified gaps, and inconsistencies and discrepancies that remain unresolved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nA new issue has been added to the list of 19 existing issues that remain outstanding because the Syrian government has failed to respond to a UN order to disclose the types and quantities of chemical agents produced or weaponized at various sites.<\/p>\n

\nThe new issue concerns the discovery by OPCW of a \u201cneat chemical warfare agent\u201d in samples collected from a former chemical weapons production facility. The Syrian government had not declared the production of this chemical agent, and the explanations it gave for its detection were described by Nakamitsu as \u201cnot sufficient to explain the results from the sample analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nShe said the number and nature of the outstanding issues is \u201cconcerning,\u201d and added: \u201cThe confidence of the international community in the complete elimination of Syria\u2019s chemical weapons program depends upon these issues being finalized.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nNakamitsu urged the council to \u201cunite on this issue\u201d but her plea fell on deaf ears.<\/p>\n

\nThe Russian representative came to the defense of the Assad regime and again attempted to discredit the OPCW by saying its report is \u201creplete with technical errors and does not stand up to any criticism,\u201d and describing it as a \u201cforgery\u201d in which \u201cfree thinkers\u201d who refused to take part were \u201cintimated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nDmitry Polyanskiy, Russia\u2019s first deputy permanent representative, also criticized Western countries for suspending the rights and privileges of Syria at the OPCW.<\/p>\n

\nLast month, states that are parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) suspended Syria\u2019s OPCW membership because of its non-compliance with the treaty. The decision bars Syria from voting at CWC conferences or serving on the OPCW until it fulfills certain obligations, including declaring the chemical weapons it possesses and related production facilities, and resolving all outstanding issues with its initial declaration.<\/p>\n

\nHuman Rights Watch had said: \u201cSyria\u2019s use of chemical weapons is the biggest implementation and compliance crisis parties have faced since (the CWC came) into force in 1997.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhile this move (the Syrian suspension) would be largely symbolic, it is essential to remind the world of the extent and severity of war crimes by Syrian government forces.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nPolyanskiy said the unprecedented suspension was \u201ca violation of norms by Western colleagues (and) another blow has been dealt to the OPCW\u2019s credibility.\u201d He added that it is part of an anti-Syria campaign that seeks to make Damascus an outcast in the OPCW.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDo (Western countries) really expect that they will continue to do business as usual with Damascus?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\nThe rest of the council welcomed the \u201chistoric decision\u201d by the Conference of the States Parties.<\/p>\n

\nRichard Mills, the US deputy ambassador to the UN, said it \u201csends a clear and collective message that the use of chemical weapons has consequences, and repeated failures by Syria to adhere to its obligations will not be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHe added: \u201cIt is time for the Assad regime to adhere to its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and Resolution 2118.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nMills told his fellow council members that the findings of the investigation into the chlorine attack \u201cshould come as no surprise to those familiar with the abuses committed by the Assad regime against the Syrian people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nAlthough the OPCW has attributed eight chemical weapons attacks to the regime, Mills said: \u201cThe United States assesses that the regime\u2019s innumerable atrocities \u2014 some of which rise to the level of war crimes, crimes against humanity \u2014 include at least 50 chemical-weapons attacks since the conflict began.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHe accused the Assad regime of retaining sufficient supplies of chemicals that allow it to use sarin gas, to produce and deploy chlorine-based weapons, and to develop and produce other chemical weapons. The OPCW report, he said, is just the latest reminder of the regime\u2019s flagrant disregard for the rule of law.<\/p>\n

\nMills also criticized Russia for holding an informal meeting last month to \u201cimpugn the OPCW and push a false narrative (of) a Western plot to attempt regime change in Damascus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThis Council and UN member states are not fooled by this Russian disinformation tactic,\u201d he added, noting that the majority of council members refute the arguments by Russia and \u201cits hand-selected presenters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nNicolas de Riviere, France\u2019s permanent representative to the UN, who initiated the proposal to suspend Syria\u2019s OPCW rights, said: \u201cLet\u2019s be clear, we are not pleased about having to suspend some rights and privileges of a state party. It is the flagrant and repeated violations of its international commitments that have left us with no choice.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIf Syria hopes to restore its rights and privileges, then it must comply with its international obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which it chose to adhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK: A Syrian Air Force helicopter dropped a chlorine bomb on the opposition-held town of Saraqib, on Feb. 4, 2018, an investigation team from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has concluded. Investigators found \u201creasonable grounds to believe\u201d at least one cylinder landed in the eastern part of the town, releasing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}