Ambassador Sabbagh: Continuing to politicize (the chemical file) in Syria confirms selectivity and double standards

New York (ST): Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh, affirmed that the continuation of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the Security Council Committee 1540 to politicize the so-called “chemical file” in Syria proves selectivity and double standards, reiterating Syria’s position regarding the illegality of establishing the investigation and identification team, and its rejection of its wrong working methods and the unprofessionalism that leads to invalid conclusions to serve the agendas of some Western countries.

In a statement today during a Security Council session on the “chemical file”, Sabbagh indicated that Syria has always and categorically condemned the use of these weapons at any time, any place and under any circumstances, and for this reason it categorically rejects the false accusations leveled by some countries, especially the United States, which supports terrorist organizations that use chemical weapons in Syria.

Sabbagh indicated that Syria has been keen since its accession to the embargo agreement and even before the date of entry into force of the agreement for it to fully cooperate with the Organization for the Prohibition.

Sabbagh pointed out that the Syrian National Committee proposed to the technical secretariat of the Organization to hold a coordination meeting between the two sides in Beirut to agree on the agenda of the upcoming high-level meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, the head of the National Committee and the director general of the organization to resolve outstanding issues.

Sabbagh explained that Syria facilitated the visit of the team of the Technical Secretariat of the Organization to it between the 11th and 19th of this September to carry out the ninth inspection round of the Center for Scientific Studies and Research.

Sabbagh expressed Syria’s welcome to hold the 25th round of consultations for the Declaration Evaluation Team, pointing out that excluding one person from the team should not prevent holding the round, especially since the organization has many qualified experts to do the same work.

K.Q.