New York-Sana
Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh, affirmed that the OPCW and Security Council Committee 1540 continue to politicize the so-called "chemical file" in Syria confirms the selectivity and double standards, reiterating Syria's position regarding the illegality of establishing the investigation and identification team, and its rejection of its wrong working methods. And unprofessionalism that leads to invalid conclusions only serves the agendas of some Western countries.
In a statement today during a Security Council session on the "chemical file", Sabbagh indicated that Syria has always and categorically condemned the use of these weapons at any time, any place and under any circumstances, and it has been careful since its accession to the embargo agreement and even before the date of entry into force of the agreement for it. On the full cooperation with the Organization for the Prohibition, and submitted on the 15th of this month to the Director-General of the Organization its report No. 106 containing the activities it conducted in connection with the destruction of chemical weapons and their production facilities.
Sabbagh indicated that the Syrian National Committee proposed to the technical secretariat of the organization to hold a coordination meeting between the two sides in Beirut to agree on the agenda of the upcoming high-level meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, the head of the National Committee and the director general of the organization to resolve outstanding issues.
Sabbagh pointed out that Syria facilitated the visit of the team of the Technical Secretariat of the Ban Organization to it between the 11th and 19th of this September to conduct the ninth inspection round of the Center for Scientific Studies and Research, surprising that the monthly report of the Director-General did not address the report of the eighth inspection round, which confirmed the absence of any activity prohibited under the agreement. He praised the great cooperation and facilities provided by Syria to the inspection team during that tour.
Sabbagh expressed Syria's welcome to hold the 25th round of consultations for the Declaration Evaluation Team, pointing out that excluding one person from the team should not prevent holding the round, especially since the organization has many qualified experts to do the same work.
Sabbagh explained that Syria had expressed its willingness to hold this tour in Damascus, The Hague or Beirut, and given the insistence of the Technical Secretariat on its position to include this person in the team, the Syrian National Committee agreed to the proposal of the Technical Secretariat to exchange messages and information between them regarding the issues that the Declaration Evaluation Team is working on. Despite the conviction that the results that this approach can achieve are limited.
The permanent representative of Syria to the United Nations pointed out that with regard to the work of the fact-finding mission, Syria is still waiting for the mission to issue its reports on the reported incidents since 2017, stressing the need for the mission to adhere to the reference working paper and the texts of the agreement, especially the verification annex, and to carry out its work professionally. impartiality and objectivity.
Sabbagh reiterated Syria's position regarding the illegality of establishing the investigation and identification team, and its rejection of its wrong and unprofessional work methods that lead to invalid conclusions that only serve the agendas of some Western countries that use this team as a tool to serve their hostile agendas against Syria, considering that any reference to the team's reports Or his conclusions deserve condemnation and condemnation.
Sabbagh expressed Syria's astonishment at the insistence of the Technical Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition and the Security Council Committee 1540 to ignore the information provided regarding the possession and use of chemical weapons by terrorist groups in Syria, or their fabrication of incidents to accuse the Syrian Arab Army of, which confirms the selectivity and double standards and reflects the state of politicization that controls the country. this file.
