‘Syria has not disclosed its chemical weapons arsenal yet’

The Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Fernando Arias, said yesterday that Syria has not yet declared its entire arsenal of chemical weapons and has not allowed OPCW inspectors to work in the country.

Syria denies using any chemical weapons and stresses that it handed over its entire stockpile in accordance with the agreement concluded in 2013 with the United States and Russia. This followed the notorious chemical weapons attack in the Ghouta region which killed 1,400 people.

In April, Syria was stripped of its voting rights at the OPCW after an investigation concluded that it was responsible for other poison gas attacks. Such rights can only be regained after declaring its entire chemical weapons stockpile and weapons manufacturing facilities.

During Monday’s meeting of the organisation, Arias said that Syria has not yet implemented any of these measures. What Damascus had stated previously, he added, “cannot be considered accurate and complete.”

He pointed out that he is preparing for a meeting with the Syrian Foreign Minister to discuss the matter.

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