Foreign Ministry: OPCW Report on Khan Sheikhoun Incident Has No Credibility and Cannot be Accepted

DAMASCUS– The Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said that the report issued by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) regarding the Khan Sheikhoun incident includes a fabricated narrative with no credibility at all and which cannot be accepted because it is removed from logic, demanding that the OPCW make reports that are fair, credible, and not subject to the pressure exerted by states and parties that seek to block access to the truth, SANA reported.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Ministry said that the Technical Secretariat of the OPCW issued on 29/06/2017 a misleading report featuring the findings of a fact finding committee regarding the Khan Sheikhoun incident, and it seems that the main purpose of forming such committees is to hide facts, and that these committees’ reports are written and prepared in advance by certain circles that are hostile to Syria.

 The Ministry said that the fact that the fact-finding committees relied on testimonies of terrorists located in Turkey shows the absence of the minimum amount of truth, as these witnesses brought to Turkey from Khan Sheikhoun are false witnesses that follow the instructors of those who paid them to testify.

The statement said that the same applies to the so-called “White Helmets” who are proven by documented facts to be tools for Jabhat al-Nusra and other terror organization and the American and British intelligence agencies, adding that the revealed sources cited by reports are ones controlled by Western intelligence and armed opposition groups that are controlled by the US, Britain, and other Western states, wondering how those who made the report can claim that the information they included has the bare minimum of what makes up an honest, reliable, and transparent investigation.

The Ministry said that the Syrian government has affirmed that it does not possess any chemical weapons immediately after the terrorists committed the crime in Khan Sheikhoun, and it condemned the use of toxic chemicals regardless of the location and circumstances and the side they are used against, as Syria believes that the use of such weapons is immortal and unjustifiable.

The statement noted that Syria expressed to cooperate fully with the Technical Secretariat so that the fact-finding committee can go to Khan Sheikhoun to investigate the incident on the ground, but the Secretariat said that it is unable to access the site because armed terrorist groups refused them access, which is further proof of the lack of professionalism by the fact-finding mission.

The Ministry added that Syria had informed the fact-finding mission when it visited Damascus that it will put a private plane at its disposal to visit al-Shuairat airport, but the OPCW also declined this invitation, pointing out that the representatives of Syria, Russia, and Iran had insisted during the OPCW Executive Council meeting on 29/06/2017 on sending a mission to al-Shuairat airport, but the US and its Western allies blocked this initiative to hide the truth about the attack on this airport from which Syrian warplanes take off to fight ISIS.

“Now this report comes up with a fabricated and contrived narrative that has no credibility and cannot be accepted in any manner, because it is removed from logic and is concocted by a twisted imagination that only thinks about weaving conspiracies and about ways to raise the collapsing morale of terrorist groups following the achievements made by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies on the Syrian ground,” the statement said.

The Ministry went on to say that the Syrian Arab Republic reiterates its rejection of such reports that are filled with misdirection and falsification of facts and of the over American threats that constitute attempts to invest in terrorism and the chemical weapons that are sent to terrorists by the states that sponsor them such as the UK, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and others.

The Ministry concluded by demanding that the OPCW make reports that are fair, credible, and not subject to the pressure exerted by states and sides that seek to block access to the truth and that harm the organization’s credibility, professionalism, and independence.