Syria rejects the OPCW report on the alleged Saraqib incident
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in a statement that, on the 12th of this month, the OPCW issued a misleading report by the so-called “investigation and identification team”, which Syria and a large number of states party to the Chemical Weapons Convention had previously announced that it as illegal. This team was put by the United States of America and its Western allies as a result of tampering with the texts and provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The ministry added that, this report included false and fabricated conclusions representing another scandal of the OPCW and its investigation team. It is added to the scandal of the “Fact Finding Mission” report on the Douma 2018 incident and the previous “Investigation and Identification Team” report on the Al-Lataminah 2017 incidents. The ministry indicated that, the aim of the fabrication of these conclusions is to falsify the facts and accuse the Syrian government of using toxic materials for an alleged incident in the town of Saraqib on February 4, 2018.
The ministry said that this illegal team relied in its investigations on open sources and on what , the “White Helmets” terrorist group, and the intelligence of some countries hostile to Syria had provided it with .It pointed out that, the team did not visit the site of the alleged incident, and its experts did not take the supposed samples themselves in violation of basic principles and objective procedures stipulated in the Chemical Weapons Convention and in a clear violation of the most basic rules of the investigation and its impartiality.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates continued that, the Syrian Arab Republic condemns in the strongest terms what was stated in the illegal report of the so-called “investigation and identification team” and rejects the form and content of it. It affirms that it was not surprised at all by the conclusions of this illegal team and at the same time, Syria categorically denies its use Poison gases in the town of Saraqib or in any other Syrian city or village. It also confirms that the Syrian Arab Army did not use such weapons in the most difficult battles it fought against the armed terrorist organizations.
The ministry added that, Western countries issued this report at this exact time, prior to the convening of the 25th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which will be held from 20 to 22 April 2021, in order to mobilize the largest possible number of countries to support the draft resolution .The Ministry expressed Syria’s regret for transforming the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons into a tool to implement the aggressive plans of the United States of America and its allies and an arena for settling political scores with Syria. It said that,Syria calls on the international community to expose these new fabricated allegations.
The ministry concluded its statement by saying that, Syria re-affirms that all these fabricated allegations and false accusations will not discourage it from pursuing its war on terrorism, its organizations and supporters, in the framework of legitimate defense of its sovereignty and unity of land and people.
Raghda Sawas