Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
New York, SANA- Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Bassam Sabbagh has affirmed that the French-Western draft resolution submitted to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Conference represents another evidence on the aggressive intentions of some countries against Syria.
Sabbagh renewed the call on the member states adhering to the principles of international law to reject the draft resolution in order to protect the organization from the risk of converting it from a technical organization to a platform for the United States and its allies to exert pressure and target a state party to the convention, which will have serious repercussions on the future of its work and cooperation with it.
During a session of the Security Council on Tuesday via video, Sabbagh stressed Syria’s condemnation of the fevered pursuit of some governments to promote allegations and fabrications about the so-called “non-compliance” to the obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
He noted that the French-Western draft resolution submitted to the 25th Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CSP) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, due to be held late this month, is based on the incorrect and unprofessional conclusions of the so-called illegal “investigation and identification team (IIT)”, and this draft resolution represents another evidence on the continuation of these countries with their aggressive intentions against Syria and their violation of the procedural rules for working in the organization by rejecting Russia’s proposal to include the draft resolution on the agenda for the 96th session of the Executive Council for discussion before being referred to the Conference of States Parties.
Sabbagh reiterated Syria’s condemnation of the use of chemical weapons by anyone, at any time and place and under any circumstances and that it has not used chemical weapons, as it voluntarily joined the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013 and it has worked with the organization with diligence, credibility and transparency to implement its obligations under its accession, which resulted in complete destruction of its stockpiles of chemical weapons and their production facilities.
He retired the demand that some countries stop politicizing the “chemical file” in Syria, remove it from the circle of political games, and stop the practices of exerting pressure and blackmailing.
Sabbagh noted that Syria has been committed to cooperating with the OPCW Technical Secretariat to settle the remaining pending issues in its initial declaration and to close this issue permanently and as soon as possible, and it categorically rejects some countries continued attempts to raise doubts about its initial declaration, and it affirms its continued cooperation with the “technical secretariat” within the framework of organized dialogue as its 88th monthly report for the period from February 16 to March 15 included confirmation of the Syrian government’s readiness to continue consultations and work with the Technical Secretariat.
He added that Syria continues to cooperate with the “fact-finding mission” and that it welcomes the visit of its teams last March and its upcoming planned visits, and it asserts that it will provide all facilitations for the success of its tasks despite its serious concerns about the mission’s working methods, which were also expressed by many countries.
Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN called on those claiming to be keen on the accountability to not be blind to the crimes of terrorist groups and the aggressive practices of some countries against the Syrian people and to demand that the United States be held accountable for its crimes in the city of Raqqa and for its flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian territories in 2017, with its missile attack on the Shayrat air base as it targeted the base with 59 Tomahawk missiles under the pretext of the alleged use of chemical weapons in Khan Sheikhoun, even before any investigation was conducted into it.
Sabbagh said that Washington, in order to justify its aggression, later resorted to employing unprofessional conclusions of the joint investigation mission, whose work was characterized by grave flaws that led to the end of its mandate, adding that those who claim keenness on the accountability must not ignore the aggression of the United States, France and Britain against Syria in April 2018 under the same flimsy pretexts on the occurrence of another accident in Douma, about which subsequent investigations revealed major scandals.
Sabbagh demanded that due attention be given to the information and developments provided by Syria to the United Nations, the relevant Security Council committees and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) about the ongoing attempts by terrorist organizations and their affiliate, the “White Helmets” in cooperation and coordination with intelligence services of well-known countries to prepare for fabricating plays of using chemical weapons to accuse the Syrian Arab Army and its allies.
He pointed out in this regard to the statement of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the 8th of last March on that terrorists of “Jabhat al-Nusra”, in cooperation with the “White Helmets” terrorist organization, were preparing to fabricate an incident of using chemical weapons in the countryside of Idleb and Lattakia provinces.
Sabbagh expressed Syria’s regret that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had ignored the statement of the “Courage Foundation” issued on February 8th and signed by a large group of experts and prominent scientific figures, led by Jose Bustani, the organization’s first director general, regarding the investigation into the alleged Douma incident and its neglect of “fundamental and serious concerns” regarding the manner in which the investigation was conducted and the occurrence of grave procedural and scientific irregularities.
Sabbagh affirmed that the pledge made by the member states of the United Nations to spare future generations the scourge of wars through preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction and spreading other noble values represented by the respect for international law and the principles of justice and fairness, today has become an arena for manipulation by the United States and its Western allies, and a tool to impose their agendas.
Sabbagh stressed that Syria, despite all the great challenges imposed by foreign military attacks, crimes of terrorist organizations, unilateral coercive measures, and recently the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic will remain committed to defending its sovereignty, independence and the rights of its people and will continue to implement all its international obligations.
Ruaa al-Jazaeri
