Syria destroys 42 Assad-era chemical bombs as its envoy accuses Israel of blocking the work
UN High Representative Izumi Nakamitsu told the Security Council on Thursday that an OPCW team had verified the irreversible destruction of 42 aerial bombs in Syria, the first confirmed destruction there since 2014, after finding a further production site, two storage facilities and an undeclared nerve-agent chemical. Syria's UN envoy Ibrahim Olabi said repeated Israeli attacks had impeded the search and destruction work and put Syrian teams at risk.
Geopolitics··Night
OPCW verifies first Syria destruction since 2014
UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu told the Security Council on Thursday that an OPCW team sent to Syria last month had verified the irreversible destruction of 42 aerial bombs, the first destruction the organisation has confirmed there since 2014. Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013, and a joint OPCW-UN team confirmed the removal of its declared stockpile the following year, but inspectors have judged that declaration incomplete ever since. Syria's envoy to the UN, Ibrahim Olabi, called the destruction the first since the country was freed from the previous government.[1]
A May discovery, and 18 already in custody
Syria's new authorities found the undeclared material now being destroyed in May; the same OPCW team identified one further production site, two storage sites and a chemical used in nerve agents that the former government had never declared. Syrian authorities have arrested 18 people, including military and political officials tied to the programme, though the first hearings have not yet been held. Al Jazeera reports the destroyed munitions as category-three items, meaning unfilled munitions and equipment used to release chemical agents.[1]
Syria's envoy accuses Israel of hindering the work
Syria's UN envoy Ibrahim Olabi told the Security Council that repeated Israeli attacks had impeded some search and destruction operations and exposed Syrian teams at work to risk, saying regional security could not be safeguarded while Syria's own security was under attack. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Olabi said Syria was preparing to hold the first court hearing for people suspected of involvement in the chemical weapons programme, calling the destruction work a way of protecting the world and the region.[1], [2]
