Polyanskiy: OPCW has ceased its cooperation with Syria to shift the blame to it

NEW YORK, Jan.6, (ST)-The First Deputy of Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy has affirmed that the OPCW Technical Secretariat stopped its cooperation with Syria to shift the blame to Damascus in the context of the work of the Declaration Assessment Team.

 

 In response to the briefing of the US representative to the UN during the session of the UNSC that was held yesterday, Polyanskiy asserted the need to mention the activity of the illegitimate Investigation and Identification Team that works remotely and churns out absurd and little convincing anti-Syrian reports that rest upon video footage and data from anti-Syrian bodies, as well as the campaign that our Western colleagues started around Syria’s initial declaration. 

 

He indicated that Syria was deprived of some of its rights and privileges at the OPCW on a far-fetched pretext and given violations of the CWC.

 

The Russian diplomat added :”Syria repeatedly claimed ready to host the DAT on its territory for the 25th round of consultations. But as we heard today, the Technical Secretariat postponed the consultations on an apparently invalid and politicized pretext. Allegedly, due to non-issuance of a visa to one member of the Team, the entire mission cannot perform its tasks. Let me remind that last time the DAT refused to go to Syria, the pretext was just as absurd: it was allegedly too hot in Syria in summer.”

 

He went on to say: “It is essential that dialogue with the DAT is part of Syria’s voluntary bilateral obligations. I stress the word ‘voluntary’ here. The DAT mandate itself does not envisage any “investigative” activities. Its task is to help the Syrian side with the initial declaration. No one ever authorized the Team to conduct intrusive retrospective “investigations”.

 

“The so-called Syrian chemical file has ceased to maintain a façade of objective and unbiased fact finding that could confirm the assertions about CW usage in that country. Now it is but a lever of anti-Syrian criticism for our Western colleagues who are ready to do everything to prove the unprovable, even though in such case they would have to neglect the laws of physics, chemistry and elementary logic,” Polyanskiy concluded. 

 

Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh, stressed yesterday that Syria has never used any of those prohibited weapons or any toxic chemicals despite the grave challenges faced by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies as a result of the crimes of terrorist organizations and their supporters.  

 

“In 2013, Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention and cooperated with the United Nations and OPCW to dispose of its stockpiles of these weapons and their production facilities, which was accomplished in record time in mid-2014, as confirmed by the relevant OPCW reports,” Sabbagh affirmed.

 

Basma Qaddour