Syria urges OPCW to hold hearing for discussing its mission’s report on alleged chemical attack in Douma: Sabbagh
THE HAGUE, (ST)- Syria’s Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical (OPCW) Bassam Sabbagh has stressed that western countries mainly the United States, France and Britain, are now trying to put pressure in order to suppress the information unveiled by a leaked document that uncover distortion of some facts about the alleged chemical attack in Syria’s Douma.
During the debates of the 24th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), currently held in the Hague, Sabbagh said that Syria is deeply concerned over the content of the recently leaked e-mail of one of the members of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) fact-finding mission sent to the office of the OPCW Director General . The leaked information revealed that the OPCW report misrepresented some of the facts on the alleged Douma chemical attack in Damascus countryside.
He reiterated that the fact-finding mission’s conclusions are of great sensitivity, because the claims about the use of chemical weapons in Douma was used as a pretext for three western countries- the United States, France and Britain- to launch a tripartite brutal military aggression on the Syrian territories.
He pointed out that the three western states are trying now to put more pressure to suppress the information unveiled by the leaked document and they are strongly defending the credibility of the report to justify their aggression.
Sabbagh urged the OPCW to start a hearing and a debate with all members of the fact-finding mission who participated in the investigation on alleged Douma chemical attack, so that the OPCW member states could discuss all views pursuant to Article 62 of the Verification Annex of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). He called on the OPCW to work transparently and neutrally.
He pointed out that the parties which try to hamper holding this session are afraid of its results and of uncovering the distortion of the report on the alleged Douma chemical incident.
Syria’ request received the support of a number of countries, foremost of which were Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, Belarus and Nicaragua.
Hamda Mustafa