US: OPCW REPORT RAISES ‘SERIOUS QUESTIONS’ ON SYRIA

Washington, 27 Dzulqa’dah 1435/22 September 2014 (MINA) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said that a recently released report alleging that the Syrian government was responsible for attacks in which chlorine was used as a weapon raises “serious questions” about Syria’s compliance with international obligations.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, known by the initials OPCW, said in its latest report on September 10 that its team had collected “compelling evidence” that the toxic chemical was used “systematically and repeatedly” in three villages in northern Syria – Talmanes, Al Tamanah and Kafr Zet, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Monday.

“The OPCW report raises serious questions about the Syrian regime’s compliance with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and UN Security Council Resolution 2118 as well as its willingness to continue using chemical weapons to kill or injure the people of Syria,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement on Sunday.

The watchdog’s report also “raises especially troubling concerns that continued chemical attacks on the Syrian people by the regime could occur,” Kerry said.

“The Assad regime must know that it will be held to account for such use in the international community.”

Meanwhile, America’s top diplomat praised the efforts of U.S. military personnel who eliminated Syria’s declared chemical weapons stockpile aboard the M/V Cape Ray in 42 days, despite earlier projections that the task could take as much as three months.

“Thanks to the work of those aboard the Cape Ray, 600 tons of chemical weapons material, including sulfur mustard agent, and components for the nerve agent sarin material that would have been capable of killing untold numbers were rendered harmless,” he said.

The Syrian government agreed to the elimination of its declared chemical weapons stockpile after a chemical attack on August 21, 2013, which the Obama administration says killed 1,426 people in the suburbs of Damascus. (T/P002/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)