Chemical Weapons Watchdog Strips Syria's Rights Over Attacks
Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published April 21, 2021 | 04:10 PM
The Hague, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Apr, 2021 ) :The global chemical weapons watchdog voted Wednesday to take the unprecedented step of stripping Syria of its rights at the organisation after a probe blamed Damascus for poison gas attacks.
Syria will have its own voting rights revoked at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and will be banned from holding any offices at the Netherlands-based agency.
The measures are in response to an OPCW investigation last year that found the Syrian air force had used the nerve agent sarin and chlorine gas in three attacks on the village of Lataminah in 2017.
It is the first time a country has been hit with such punishment in the history of the OPCW, which was founded nearly a quarter of a century ago to rid the world of chemical weapons.
Syria and its ally Russia have consistently denied that Damascus has used chemical weapons during the ten-year civil war, arguing that the watchdog has become politicised by the West.
A two-thirds majority of the regulator's 193 member states voted in favour of a proposal by 46 nations including France, Britain and the United States to deprive Syria of "rights and privileges".
"In light of this result the draft resolution is adopted," said Jose Antonio Zabalgoitia Trejo, the chairman of the meeting of the OPCW's member states who had gathered at its headquarters in The Hague.
Eighty-seven countries voted in favour of the motion, 15 including Syria, Russia, China and Iran voted against, and 34 abstained, OPCW officials said. A total of 136 out of the agency's 193 member states voted.
- 'Rights and privileges' - Syria's rights will remain suspended until member states decide that Damascus has fully declared all its chemical weapons and weapons-making facilities, the motion says.
The motion said the OPCW "decides, after careful review, and without prejudice to the Syrian Arab Republic's obligations under the (Chemical Weapons) Convention, to suspend the following rights and privileges." These include the right to vote in either the annual conference of all member states or the OPCW's executive council, to stand for election in the executive council, or to hold any office in the agency, it said.
OPCW chief Fernando Arias will "regularly report... on whether the Syrian Arab Republic has completed all of the measures" demanded by the watchdog, it adds.
The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed in 2013 to join the OPCW and give up all chemical weapons, following a suspected sarin nerve gas attack that killed 1,400 people in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.
But it has been repeatedly accused of chemical weapons attacks since then.
A new OPCW investigations team with the power to apportion blame -- the agency previously only had the mandate to say if chemical attacks had been carried out or not -- blamed Syria for the Lataminah attacks in March 2017.
Damascus then failed to adhere to a 90-day deadline set by the executive council to declare the weapons used in the attacks, reveal its remaining stocks and comply with OPCW inspections.
France submitted the motion to strip Syria of its privileges in response.
Pressure mounted on Damascus last week after a second OPCW investigation found a Syrian helicopter dropped a chlorine bomb on the rebel-held town of Saraqib in 2018.
The UN recently said Damascus has for years not replied to a series of 19 questions about its weapons installations.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Punjab CM inaugurates Pakistan’s first Virtual Women Police Station
Dutch model Donny Roelvink embraces Islam
Experts raise concerns over introduction of 10-stick packs
Iranian president arrives in Karachi
Law Minister expresses Govt's resolve to address issue of missing persons
Rizwan’s batting order may be changed: Sources
Nawaz Sharif to visit Guangzhou exhibition in China
FM Dar not traveling to China: Foreign Office
PM takes notice of deliberate delay in tax cases
Iranian President visits Allama Iqbal’s mausoleum
Iranian President arrives in Lahore today
Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, Riyal Rates On 23 April 2024
More Stories From Miscellaneous
-
PDMA predicts gusty wind, rain with thunder, hails
8 hours ago -
Iranian president Raisi given guard of honour at PM House
2 days ago -
Intellectuals, writers accolades Naseer Mirza on his literary contribution
2 days ago -
Bahawalpur Adabi Sangat hosts memorable mushaira
2 days ago -
Cattle farming vital to alleviate poverty in rural areas
2 days ago -
Pakistan: A land of tourism, archeological wonders
3 days ago
-
Transforming education sector: from job hunters to job creators
5 days ago -
Amjad Bobby remembered on 19th death anniversary for timeless contributions to music
9 days ago -
Legendary actor Nadeem’s 26 films released on Eid-ul-Fitr days in 50 years
9 days ago -
Besant Hall Cultural Centre to celebrate evening with Sanam Marvi on 26 April
10 days ago -
Radio Bahawalpur presents program “Eidi Shidi”
13 days ago -
Radio Bahawalpur to broadcast Eid programs
15 days ago