Big Powers Set To Clash At Chemical Weapons Watchdog

Major powers are set to clash Monday at the global toxic arms watchdog over a Russian spy scandal and a new ability to attribute blame.

The Hague, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Nov, 2018 ) :Major powers are set to clash Monday at the global toxic arms watchdog over a Russian spy scandal and a new ability to attribute blame.

The meeting of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague is the first since member states agreed in June to let it point the finger over attacks.

Russia opposes the new powers, which will see the OPCW start apportioning responsibility for chemical incidents in Moscow's ally Syria early next year.

The meeting is also the first since the expulsion of four Russians accused by Dutch authorities in October of trying to hack into the watchdog's computer system, using electronic equipment hidden in a car parked outside a nearby hotel.

At the time the organisation was investigating a nerve agent attack on Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal in the British city of Salisbury, and a major chemical attack in Syria.

"This will be a rather heated debate," Russia's envoy to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency.

The ambassador said the new powers run "counter to the chemical convention's provision", adding that many states also oppose plans to increase the watchdog's budget.

Russia has previously warned that the new powers make the OPCW a "sinking Titanic" and has hinted at pulling out.

The United States meanwhile said earlier this month that it was preparing more sanctions against Moscow over the Salisbury attack, which Britain says involved Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent.