Jaafari Urges UN to fully Cooperate with Syria on Chemical Attacks Inquiry

The United Nations has approved on Friday a resolution aimed at forming an international committee of experts to investigate the use of chemicals including chlorine in Syria.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will be asked to prepare a plan for an inquiry.

The vote came after the US and Russia agreed on the final text of the resolution.

A mission to eliminate Syria's chemical arsenal was set in 2013. Late last year, the OPCW declared it had removed or destroyed all 1,180 tones of declared toxic agents and precursor chemicals.

Syria’s Permanent Representative at the UN, Bashar al-Jaafari said the international committee must coordinate and cooperate fully with the Syrian government to ensure transparency and accountability.

In a speech at the Security Council after the resolution was adopted, he affirmed that the Syrian government and Syrian Arab Army never have and never will use chemical weapons under any context.

The Syrian representative noted that the Syrian Arab Army and Syrian civilians were targeted with chemical weapons, including chlorine, by armed terrorist organizations, namely ISIL (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant) and al-Nusra Front.

Al-Jaafari pointed out that the Syrian government was the one to demand an investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Khan al-Assal area near Aleppo which went unheeded by the United Nations, and the perpetrators of that crime were never identified or brought to justice.

“Syria has fulfilled its commitments in the framework of its joining the Chemical Weapons Convention as well as its obligations under the UN Security Council resolution no. 2118 for the year 2013 as it has been keen from the start to provide all forms of cooperation and act in a positive, transparent and flexible manner in fulfilling its commitments,” he said, noting that all of this took place while Syria facing great challenges and experiences a difficult, complicated, and instigator situation due to the hostile behavior of some countries.

For his part, the UN's Russian representative, Vitaly Churkin, hoped that the joint investigative body would work "impartially, objectively and professionally". In a similar speech, Churkin said that the new resolution sends a message that will make those who used chemical weapons before think twice before using it again, noting that the inspection mission will be sponsored by the UN and supervised by the OPCW.
  almanar.com.lb
8/8/15
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