Syria challenges OPCW report

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Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations Bassam al-Sabbagh said that "it is unfortunate that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons transformed from a technical organization into an instrument in a geopolitical game led by the US and its allies," stating Syria's rejection of these countries' pressure that he described as "means of political blackmail."

During a United Nations Security Council session, al-Sabbagh stressed that the "unprecedented" decision, taken by the OPCW Conference of the States Parties against Syria "is clear evidence of the extent of manipulation, politicization, and pressure exerted by those countries within the organization."

Al-Sabbagh also said, "It is reprehensible that the states sponsoring these terrorist organizations have worked during the past eight years to divert the attention of the member states of the UN and the state parties to the conventional chemical weapons from confronting this terrorist threat."

The Syrian representative clarified that "this deliberate subversive approach" to the rules and principles of OPCW "followed by some member states in this council has led to wrong conclusions that undermine the credibility and professionalism of the OPCW's work and has limited the ability of the international community to confront this terrorist threat. This behavior is in stark contrast to these countries' responsibilities in maintaining international peace and security."

Al-Sabbagh added that Syria "frequently provided to the United Nations and the OPCW regarding the possession and transfer of chemical weapons and toxic chemicals by terrorist organizations to stage incidents of chemical attacks with the aim of accusing the Syrian Arab army."

Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Faisal Mekdad said in an interview with Al Mayadeen on chemical weapons that "my country never used chemical weapons when its bases got occupied by militias," indicating that Washington exerted great pressure on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons members to accuse Syria.

Russia previously accused the United States and its allies of turning the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons into a tool to achieve their interests and holding Damascus fully responsible for the chemical attacks "in the absence of sufficient evidence."