United States ambassador to UN Samantha Power said that the repeated use of chemical weapons in Syria violates UN Security Council Resolution 2118 and worldwide standards and norms against chemical weapons use.
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Russian officials tried to sound a conciliatory note over yesterday’s United Nations chemical weapons report, which noted two releases of “toxic substances” following Syrian helicopter attacks, and one ISIS deployment of mustard gas, with Ambassador Vitaly Churkin insisting that they and the U.S. have a mutual interest in discouraging such attacks. Islamic State used mustard gas in Aleppo governorate on August 21, 2015, it said.
Power said she expected the UN/OPCW inquiry to continue its investigation into those cases and any other chemical weapons attacks confirmed and referred by the OPCW fact-finding investigation.
Three other attacks appeared to have been carried out by the government but it could not be certain, the team said in its report.
However, weaponized chlorine is still considered a chemical weapon and its use is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention that the US-Russia deal compelled Syria to be a party to, thereby making Syria’s use of the substance against civilians a violation of the agreement.
The UN-OPCW investigative team was formed by the UN Security Council a year ago to identify parties responsible for chemical attacks in Syria.
“The use of chemical weapons, which the Syrian authorities agreed to ban in 2013 under worldwide pressure.is an abomination that highlights the damning role played by the Damascus regime in the worsening situation in Syria”, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement.
The Syrian government has long accused opposition fighters of using chemical weapons.
The Russian ambassador described as “very important” the finding by the United Nations investigators of mustard gas use by IS fighters.
The report raised the stakes in the global community’s attempts to reach a solution for Syria’s bloody, five- year war, quickly prompting a call for forceful action by some Security Council diplomats.
The findings were made despite a pledge to abandon chemical weapons in 2013.
It follows an earlier report by United Nations weapons inspectors that found “clear and convincing evidence” that chemical weapons were used in Syria.
Vitaly Churkin, whose country is a strong supporter of the Syrian government, responded to predictions of confrontation by stressing that the US and Russian Federation created the investigative body to determine those responsible for chemical attacks in Syria.
“We continue to remove leaders from the battlefield with knowledge of these weapons and will target any related materials and attempts to manufacture such chemicals going forward”, Mr Price said.
According to the report, obtained by The Associated Press, Jim found the Syrian government responsible for two chlorine attacks in Idlib governorate, one in Talmenes on April 21, 2014 and one in Sarmin on March 16 2015. It called for further investigations in several instances.
The council is due to discuss the report on Tuesday and could decide to impose sanctions on Syria or ask the International Criminal Court to take up the matter as a war crime.
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There was insufficient information to reach a conclusion in the final three of the nine cases that the panel has been investigating for the past year.
