The United Nations disarmament official calls on Syria to cooperate with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

This came during the regular briefing by High Representative Izumi Nakamitsu to the Security Council on the implementation of its Resolution No. 2118 related to the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons program.

Nakamitsu said her office continues regular contact with the OPCW Technical Secretariat on activities related to the resolution. She stated that the organization’s team responsible for evaluating the activities announced by Syria continued its efforts to verify the outstanding issues.

She added that the Technical Secretariat states that the nature of the 19 outstanding cases raises serious concern because they relate to large quantities of military chemicals and ammunition that were reported to have been destroyed or consumed before Syria joined the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and whose fate cannot be fully verified. These issues also include potentially large quantities of military chemicals, the production of which Syria has not declared to the Technical Secretariat.

The UN official indicated that the eleventh round of inspections at the Barzeh and Jamra facilities, affiliated with the Center for Scientific Studies and Research, took place between November 12 and 20 after it was postponed in September for security reasons. She said that the organization’s technical secretariat will submit a report on the results of the inspection in a timely manner, and that it plans to conduct the twelfth round before the end of this year.

Nakamintsu stressed that the Technical Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is fully committed to implementing its mandate aimed at verifying Syria’s implementation of its declared obligations under the Convention and the decisions of the policy-making bodies of the Organization and the Security Council. She stressed the importance of Syria’s full cooperation with the Technical Secretariat to resolve all outstanding issues.

In view of the identified gaps, contradictions and discrepancies that have not been resolved, the UN official said that the Technical Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons currently concludes that Syria’s declaration, regarding its nuclear program, cannot be considered accurate and complete in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. Nakamitsu called on Syria to cooperate with the Technical Secretariat and respond urgently to all its requests.