Syria Urges UNSC to Take Measures to Prevent Terrorists from Getting WMD

NEW YORK, (ST)-Syria has called on the Security Council and concerned committees to take necessary measures as to prevent the terrorists in Syria from getting weapons of mass destruction (WMD). He has also urged holding the countries which support terrorism accountable for supplying terrorist groups with such dangerous weapons.

Syria’s Permanent Representative at the Security Council Bashar al-Jaafari said on Monday during the session of open formal consultations on the implementation of the Security Council Resolution No.1540 of 2004, that there were still many big gaps exploited by the terrorists to get WMD and use them in terrorist attacks.

 Resolution No. 1540 closes gaps in nonproliferation treaties and conventions to help prevent terrorists and criminal organizations from obtaining the world’s most dangerous weapons.

Al-Jaafari pointed out that the governments of some UN member countries are directly involved in supplying the terrorist groups with chemical weapons or at least agents necessary to produce such weapons, noting that some other countries have turned a blind eye to these serious violations which threaten international peace and security.     

“Violations of the Resolution No. 1540 are embodied in several cases in which terrorist groups in Syria used chemical materials several times against civilians and military personnel with huge support by Arab and regional countries in cooperation with intelligence bodies of influential countries in the region,” al-Jaafari said.

He clarified that on June 13, 2016, terrorist groups positioned in Hosh al-Fara area fired a homemade bomb containing chemicals on Syrian Army soldiers and the bomb emitted a scratching irritating smell that harmed five soldiers and caused dangerous health symptoms to them. The military personnel were moved to a specialized hospital for treatment, he said.

Al-Jaafari clarified that Syria has delivered tens of official letters to the UN Secretary-General, to the successive UN Security Council Presidents and to the UN 1540 Committee on the facilitations provided by terror- backers governments, particularly Turkey and Saudi Arabia on the terrorists’ obtaining of chemical weapons and substances.

“We also provided the Security Council and its subcommittee on applying Resolution No. 1540, starting from our letter on 8/12/2012 throughout four years until reaching the letter on 16/6/2016, with detailed and documented information that al-Qaeda terrorists produce and test chemical weapons on rabbits in a laboratory located in the Turkish city of Gaziantep as a step to be used against civilians in Syria,” he clarified.

Terrorists brought Sarin gas to Syria across Turkish borders

Al-Jaafari also referred that terrorists brought amounts of Sarin gas though the Turkish territories after they had transferred it on a passenger plane from Libya to Turkey for using it in Syria and then accusing the Syrian government, adding that Syria has provided the Committee with audio records and videos proving that the terrorist groups possess chemical weapons, which they have been used in several areas in the country.

Al-Jaafari asserted that some member states inside and outside the UN Security Council turned a deaf ear to Syria’s repeated warnings and calls to guarantee respecting the resolution No.1540 , pointing out that these states ignored the resolution No. 2118 which calls the member states to abstain from providing any kind of support to the terrorist groups which attempt to develop nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and to inform the security Council of any violation of the resolution No 1540.

He added that these states hindered the Russian-Chinese draft which aims at taking precautionary measures to prevent the non-state groups from obtaining and using the chemical weapons.

UNSC’s inaction unacceptable

Al-Jaafari criticized the unacceptable UNSC silence on this issue saying “despite all the truths which reveal the terrorist group’s attempts to smuggle chemical weapons across the Turkish territories to Syria and despite all the accurate reports talking about the involvement of some countries in the attacks that hit Khan al-Assal town in Aleppo countryside and other areas in Damascus countryside on 21/8/2013, the Security Council has done nothing about this.”

He continued to say that “there are some powerful countries which prevented the UN from assuming its responsibilities regarding facing the terrorist threat against Syrian state, government and people,” adding “these countries turned a blind eye to questioning the member states’ governments which support this terrorism, the matter which raises doubts on the feasibility of adopting a resolution by the Security Council without committing to applying it.”

He reiterated Syria’s commitment to the international resolutions and the applicable measures for cooperation and coordination to face the threat posed by the arrival of the mass destruction weapons to the terrorists and non-state groups, highlighting that the Syrian government enhanced the relevant measures and providing the 1540 resolution Committee with five national reports on the implementation of this resolution.

In April 2004, the UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted Resolution 1540, which establishes legally binding obligations on all UN Member States to have and enforce appropriate and effective measures against the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons (WMD), their delivery systems, including by establishing controls.

Hamda Mustafa