Ambassador Attia: Western countries have diverted the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons from its objectives

Hague, (ST) – The Ambassador Milad  Attia, Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), affirmed Syria’s categorical rejection of the use of chemical weapons by anyone, anywhere and under any circumstances. He said that Western countries have diverted the OPCW from the goals for which it was established and turned it into a platform to direct false accusations against Syria and Russia.

Ambassador Attia said in a speech yesterday during the opening of the twenty-seventh session of the Conference of the States Parties in the Hague, Netherlands that the United States of America, France and Britain have turned the organization into a platform for making false accusations against Russia for using chemical weapons or preparing to use those weapons, as it did with Syria over the past nine years.

Attia added that the United States of America and its allies have not only committed crimes against the Syrian people, but are continuing to make vigorous attempts to reproduce and install false accusations and fabrications, and to practice misleading information against Syria in the OPCW. Syria has implemented all that is required of it under the Chemical Weapons Convention despite the very difficult and complex circumstances that it went through and is going through.

Attia pointed out that Syria is still being subjected to campaigns unprecedented in the history of this organization of skepticism and false accusations by Western countries against it. All of these accusations are with the aim of achieving aggressive political goals that these countries were unable to achieve through direct and indirect war that is still continuing until now.

Attia said that the serious challenge to the OPCW does not concern Syria, but rather is a broader global problem of a systematic nature, because the organization has been turned into a tool for political manipulation that diverted it from its technical nature, professionalism and credibility.

Attia said that  threats from terrorist groups and non-state entities pose a serious danger to the security and stability of the state parties. He reiterated Syria’s call on all Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states to strengthen international efforts to confront this real threat, especially since it has become clear that Western countries are seeking to cover up crimes and practices of terrorist groups in Syria.

Attia added that Syria has always informed the organization and the UN Security Council about the terrorist groups and the terrorist group (White Helmets)is continuing staging plays using chemical weapons, especially in the countryside of the governorates of Idlib, Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Lattakia, but this important information did not receive any attention from the Technical Secretariat and many western countries.

Attia stressed that Syria supports Russia’s right to defend itself and protect its national security in response to aggressive Western policies.

Attia stressed that Western countries continue in an approach that undermines the work of the OPCW, as they were not satisfied with a documented gross violation of the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention, but rather contributed to unprecedented divisions within the organization.

Attia pointed out that the United States of America and its allies were not satisfied with committing crimes against the Syrian people, occupying some of their lands, plundering their wealth in a flagrant and open manner, destroying their capabilities, and starving them through economic terrorism represented by unilateral coercive economic measures, but rather they supported terrorist organizations that spilled the blood of Syrians without moral or legal deterrent.

Attia said that the Syrian Arab Republic, along with many countries, has expressed, on more than one occasion, objective observations regarding the modalities of the “fact-finding mission” and its reports issued so far. Nevertheless, Syria cooperated with the teams of this mission and provided it with all the facilities required for the success of its missions. The last of which was Syria’s cooperation and its provision of all facilities to the mission team on its last visit to Syria during the current month of November.

Attia said that the United States and its allies, led by the European Union, continue to use the policy of economic terrorism against Syria, represented by unilateral coercive measures, in clear violation of what is stipulated in Article Eleven of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the United Nations Charter, and the principles and rules of international law.

Attia stressed that achieving the universality of the Chemical Weapons Convention represents a very important step in ensuring the establishment of an effective global regime against chemical weapons. He pointed out that this will not be achieved without obligating “Israel” to join the Chemical Weapons Convention and the rest of the international agreements related to the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Attia expressed Syria’s regret over the existence of sponsoring countries of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons that hinder any effort to establish a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East in order to protect “Israel” and keep it outside any international control over its nuclear, chemical and biological facilities.

Attia also said that Syria calls for international cooperation to confront the illegal restrictions imposed by those countries on the transfer of scientific technology for peaceful purposes to developing countries and to subject them to unilateral illegal coercive measures against some other countries with the aim of preventing them from achieving economic and scientific development for their people and preventing them from using chemistry for peaceful purposes in a clear violation of the provisions of the Convention and international law.

Raghda Sawas