Jaafari : Syria Warned against Terrorists Use of Chemical Weapons

NEW YORK (ST) _ Syria’s  Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dr. Bashar Jaafari stressed  that the Syrian government is considering  what was  stated in the interim report issued by the UN Secretariat on allegations of using chemical weapons in Damascus countryside , on August 21, explaining that the Syrian government does not want to  anticipate assessment of the  partial report content  before making a careful study of its details.

Reading  Syria ‘s  statement , before the UN General Assembly on the report of the UN  Mission , yesterday on the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Ghota on 21 August 2013 Jaafari said : The partial findings of the investigation team concluded the use of poisonous sarin  gas did not add anything new to what  Syrian government itself had warned against several times, pointing out that the Syrian government , since the beginning of the crisis, has warned of the danger of using  chemical weapons in Syria by terrorist groups , some linked to al-Qaeda.

UN  Secretariat partial  report  disrupts investigations

Jaafari said : I wished the  UN Secretariat not to be confined  to issue a partial report because  this  would confuse  the investigation and serve  intrusive  agendas  of  some countries  that seek to politicize the scientific investigations  in order to demonize the Syrian government and devoid   the positive meaning of its decision to join the Organization for the Prohibition of chemical weapons and sabotage the  Syrian – Russian initiative provided for placing  of chemical weapons stockpiles and production and storage sites under the control of the Organization for the prohibition of chemical Weapons .

He continued that during its membership in the  UN  Security Council in 2003,  Syria proposed a draft resolution aimed at establishing a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, an initiative that did not succeed as it was  intercepted by  the U.S. delegation in the Security Council at the time , noting  the resolution  adopted  annually by the UN  General Assembly on the establishment of a zone free of nuclear weapons in the Middle East . A  resolution requesting the  UN Secretary – General to submit a report on the implementation of the  said resolution , but that none of the secretaries-general of the United Nations submitted his   report to the General Assembly on the  said resolution over the decades since it was adopted by the UN General  Assembly.

Syria  warned against  the use of chemical weapons by terrorist groups

Jaafari  added that since  the beginning of the crisis in Syria ,the Syrian government repeatedly  warned of the danger of the use of chemical weapons in Syria by terrorist groups , some linked to al-Qaeda and officially  expressed since December 2012  serious fear that some governments that support terrorism and terrorists in Syria provide chemical weapons for  armed terrorist groups,  to allege  later they are  used by the Syrian government, noting that  this letter is  in  the Archives of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly , dated 08.12.2012 .

He continued that raising the file  of the so-called ” chemical weapons in Syria,” aims to undermine the chances of convening and the success of the Geneva 2, which is supported by the secretary general and  rather to proceed with the option of military aggression and delusions  of changing the Syrian rule through that . He also added  that this also comes after the apparent progress of the Syrian army in response to the armed  international terrorism over the Syrian  territory.

Partial findings of the investigation team did not add anything new

The  Syrian Permanent Representative to the United Nations  added that the  partial conclusions of the investigation team  concluded that the use of sarin gas  did not add anything new to what the Syrian government itself had warned several times , thereby confirming what the Syrian government concluded  several months  before  the Investigation Committee started work , recalling in  this regard , a number of reports that confirm  terrorist groups in Syria use of sarin gas . He cited evidences that the  Turkish authorities in  May 2013 arrested  12 terrorist  with their possession  two KGs of sarin gas  they had transferred from Libya on board of  a civil aircraft , pointing out that the media indicated today that the Turkish courts sentenced  those terrorists to jail  and  fact that smuggling any type of weapons from Libya to Syria is in flagrant violation of relevant Security Council resolutions relevant , resolutions 1970 and 1973 which were adopted under Chapter VII.

Jaafari  hinted  reports on  al-Nusra Front  terrorists manufacturing of chemical  weapons in a  secret laboratory  in Iraq so that these dirty  weapons to be delivered to  terrorists in  Syria, pointing  , reports and documents handed over by Russian journalist Anastasia Popova to  the UN  General Secretariat on  what she had seen in  Khan al-Asal area , the  day when the  attack was made  on the town providing that  terrorist groups  used  chemical  weapons against the Syrian Arab army and civilians in the town in addition to the reports on the  involvement of two  Qatari army officers in the transfer of toxic chemicals used in  Khan al-Asal  to the armed terrorist groups which carried out  the operation ,through the Turkish territory and with the knowledge of the authorities of Ankara. They were  Fahad Saeed Al-Hajri and Faleh bin Khaled al-Tamimi .

” Based on our belief that the use of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons is unacceptable ,immoral and condemnable in the light of recent developments and the  care to maintain  the  security of Syria and its citizens , the Syrian government responded to the  Russian initiative  provided to join  the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production , Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons  under a legislative decree issued by  President Bashar Al – Assad.” Jaafari said.

Jaafari pointed out that Syria had joined the Geneva Protocol of 1925 , even before the United States and Israel whose  nuclear weapons constitute a major obstacle to the evacuation  of the  Middle East  from  all weapons of mass destruction .

He stressed that  the Syrian government is committed to cooperate  with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to  the implementation of the provisions of the Convention and is willing to reveal all stocks of chemical weapons and their primary components , production and stockpiling sites .

Jaafari  concluded by  saying that the UN Secretary -General  said  that chemical weapons were first used  on 21  August/ 2013 since  it was used in Halabja, Iraq,  explaining that  this is not accurate because the chemical weapon was used in Iraq , in Fallujah and other areas resulting in killing  tens thousands of Iraqis , regretting  the fact that no mention is made  Western countries that used weapons of mass destruction in Libya , Vietnam and Ethiopia.

T. Fateh