Comment by the Information and Press Department on the investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma, Syrian Arab Republic

The Syrian Government has appealed to the Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) requesting that the alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma on April 7 be investigated as soon as possible, including an obligatory visit by the OPCW experts to the site of this apparent provocation. Damascus said it would guarantee the OPCW’s Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) safe access to Douma and its suburbs. The command of the Russian group of forces in Syria also expressed readiness to provide all the necessary assistance to the OPCW experts, including security.

We welcome the decision taken by Director General of the OPCW Technical Secretariat Ahmet Uzumcu to deploy an FFM team to Douma to establish facts surrounding these allegations without delay. We believe that any delay with the deployment of an FFM team would be unacceptable in light of the rampant Western anti-Syria campaign. Any such delay could result in another opportunistic missile raid similar to the one the US delivered in April 2017 at the Syrian Shayrat Airbase in violation of the UN Charter and universally recognised norms of international law.

We expect the Syrian authorities to provide the necessary assistance to the FFM team and the OPCW Technical Secretariat to inform all states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention about the progress of its investigation.

In this context, we express our resentment of the position of the three Western members of the UN Security Council which blocked the adoption of two UNSC resolutions initiated by Russia on April 10. One of them only expressed support for the decision of the OPCW Technical Secretariat’s Director General. This again makes one wonder if the US and its confederates need an investigation at all. It appears that they do not. These countries have already appointed the culprit and will not back down.

The consequences of this opportunistic policy for international peace and security will be undeniably destructive.