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Syrian Delegation Criticizes OPCW Approach

A Syrian diplomat said at an OPCW event that it was Russia's right to defend itself against aggression, according to SANA.
Syrian Delegation Criticizes OPCW Approach

The Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Organization to the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Milad Attia, said that what Syria has suffered during the past years within the organization raises serious questions about its ability to carry out its mandate under the Chemical Weapons Convention, as it is being used as a tool to implement the political agendas of some Western states against state parties to the convention.

Attia’s remarks came in a statement delivered during the opening of the 100th session of the Executive OPCW Council in The Hague yesterday.

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“Syria welcomed this year the 25th anniversary of the Chemical Weapons Convention’s entry into force as it is considered the first multilateral convention to eliminate a class of weapons of mass destruction, and based on its deep belief that this convention constitutes the first multilateral disarmament mechanism in the world and that it provides for the elimination of an entire class of weapons of mass destruction led by the OPCW, whose task is to implement the provisions of this convention,” Ambassador Arria said.

He added “Unfortunately, since 2018, the OPCW, the body charged with implementing the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention, has been used as a tool to implement the political agendas of some Western countries against states parties to the Convention, as those well-known countries have exploited it to make false accusations and take unjust decisions that clearly violate the provisions of the convention.”

“My delegation regrets that this technical organization has been again involved in geopolitical and security issues of a regional and international nature and it has been diverted from the goals for which it was established,” the Syrian diplomat said.

Attia stressed that it is the legitimate right of the Russian Federation to defend its national security, independence, stability and territorial integrity.

He continued, “What is required of the U.S. and its allies today is to stop their hostile, hard-line stance against Russia.”

“We say with regret… that what Syria has been exposed to during the past years within the organization has raised a serious question for us about the organization’s ability to carry out its mandate under the convention and the extent of its ability to withstand the pressures it is exposed to by the U.S. and its Western allies because the organization has been turned it into a tool for political manipulation that distanced it from its professionalism and credibility,” he said.

 

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.

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