Syria allows entry to chemical arms locations to international investigators

(MENAFN) The UN’s top disarmament official, Izumi Nakamitsu, on Thursday acknowledged Syria’s recent willingness to work with international inspectors by granting complete access to chemical weapons facilities. This development marks a shift in the interim government's efforts to align with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Addressing the UN Security Council, Nakamitsu emphasized that the changing political situation in Syria offers “an important opportunity to obtain long-overdue clarifications on the full extent and scope of the Syrian chemical weapons program.”

She explained that since March, two separate OPCW missions visited several locations and engaged with Syrian authorities.

“The OPCW team also had a technical meeting with two Syrian experts and gathered new information that had not been previously revealed by the former Syrian authorities,” she added.

Nakamitsu commended the new Syrian administration for granting “unfettered access, inter-alia, to sites and people,” and described their “commitment to fully and transparently cooperate with the OPCW Technical Secretariat as commendable.”

Acknowledging that “the work ahead will not be easy,” she called on the Council to “unite and show leadership in providing the support that this unprecedented effort will require.”

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