Syria participates in 20th session of the Conference of the States Parties to OPCW

The Hague – Syria said it has delivered on all its commitments under its accession to the convention on the prohibition of the use, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.

This came in a statement delivered by the Deputy Foreign and Expatriates Minister Fayssal Mikdad during the opening session of the 20th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) being held in Hague from 30 November to 4th of December, SANA reported.

 Al-Mikdad noted that Syria has repeatedly warned of providing armed terrorist gangs with toxic chemical substances by some regional and international parties who are plotting against Syria to be used against the Syrian people and to accuse the Syrian government, pointing out that Syria’s enemies have failed in hiding their support for ISIS which used sulfur mustard gas in different areas in Syria and Iraq in incidents that have been authenticated by the OPCW fact-finding team.

He stressed that Syria condemns the conduct of some states in covering up the use of chemical weapons by ISIS, adding that those states are providing ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist organizations with chemical substances.

“Getting rid of all weapons of mass destruction and prohibiting terrorist organizations from using them is a collective responsibility that should be assumed with utmost seriousness and responsibility, in particular in the Middle East,” he said.

At the conclusion of his statement, al-Mikdad asserted on the necessity of serious international efforts to make the Middle East region free of WMDs which will not be achieved unless Israel is forced to join international agreements on the non-proliferation of WMDs.