Diplomat: Syria has four chemical weapons facilities it didn't disclose
By Lorenzo Ferrigno, Ann Roche and Richard Roth, CNN, Re-posted by Abdulgafar Abdulrauf Adio (www.econsforumnews.blogspot.com)
(CNN) -- Syria has four chemical weapons facilities that it did not previously disclose to the United Nations, a Western diplomat told CNN on Tuesday.
(CNN) -- Syria has four chemical weapons facilities that it did not previously disclose to the United Nations, a Western diplomat told CNN on Tuesday.
The diplomat said Sigrid
Kaag, the U.N. special envoy overseeing the destruction of Syria's
chemical stockpiles, briefed the U.N. Security Council.
Three of the sites are research and development facilities and one is a production facility, according to the source.
Syria disclosed the
information during ongoing meetings between the Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and Syrian authorities, Kaag told the
council members, according to the source.
U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations Samantha Power tweeted shortly after: "Must keep pressure
on regime so it doesn't hide (chemical weapons) capability."
In August 2013, U.N.
spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters that a team of experts had
gathered to go to Syria to investigate reports of chemical weapons.
In September 2013, U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released the inspectors' report, which
says there was "clear and convincing evidence" that sarin, a nerve agent
developed for chemical warfare, was used in a Damascus attack.
Later that month, the
U.N. Security Council passed a resolution requiring Syria to eliminate
its chemical weapons arsenal, and President Bashar al-Assad promised to
adhere to the resolution. The following month, Syria began dismantling
its chemical weapons program.
Syria's declared chemical weapons gone
Rebels accuse regime of chemical attack
U.S. ship ready for Syrian chemicals
In July, 600 metric tons of chemical weapons from Syria were transferred to a U.S. ship for destruction in what marked the demise of the last of the country's declared chemical weapons stockpiles.
At the time, officials said it was a major milestone.
But inspectors have said they couldn't say for sure whether some undeclared weapons were still lurking somewhere in the country.
And in August, there
were new allegations of chlorine attacks, officials said. After
inspectors' findings were detailed in Tuesday's closed-door Security
Council briefing, diplomats took to Twitter with statements that echoed
accusations aimed at the Syrian government a year ago.
"Witnesses of chlorine
gas attacks described them as carried out by helicopters, which only
Syrian regime has. All fingers point to Assad," Power said.
"Connect the dots: @OPCW
sure chlorine used in #Syria, witnesses saw it dropped by helicopters,
which only Assad has. Who's responsible? #UNSC," the Lithuanian mission
to the United Nations, a current member of the Security Council,
tweeted.
The Syrian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to CNN.
Asked about the
revelation of additional Syrian chemical weapons facilities, State
Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki pointed to a recent statement from
Secretary of State John Kerry, which said the United States was "gravely concerned" about the recent reports of chlorine attacks in Syria.
"This finding, coupled
with deep concerns regarding the accuracy and completeness of Syria's
declaration to the (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons), raises especially troubling concerns that continued chemical
attacks on the Syrian people by the regime could occur," Kerry said last
month.
0 comments:
Post a Comment