US wary of Syria's chemical weapons capability as civil war intensifies

Banned weapons are 'not a relic of the past', US envoy to the UN says

A Syrian anti-government fighter shoots into the air after rebels seized control of the city of Hama. AFP

Damascus's chemical weapons programme is a “continuing threat” to international peace and security, the US told the UN Security Council on Thursday, as Syria's civil war intensifies after rebel advances.

Robert Wood, the US deputy ambassador to the UN, warned that President Bashar Al Assad might attempt to use the banned weapons given the situation in Aleppo and Idlib in north-western Syria.

“Syria’s chemical weapons programme is not a relic of the past,” Mr Wood said. “It is in situations like the one we face today, when the Assad regime feels most at risk … that the regime previously unleashed chemical weapons on its own people.”

He cited findings from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and a UN investigative body that confirmed the Syrian government’s responsibility for nine previous chemical weapons attacks.

“At this moment, when we see the regime and its backers ramping up attacks on civilians in Aleppo and Idlib, our message is simple: the eyes of the international community are on you and will remain on you until justice and accountability are reached,” the US diplomat said. “Let's not ignore the facts, uncovered at great cost by organisations like the White Helmets, and independently and impartially confirmed by the OPCW.”

Dmitry Polyanskiy, the deputy envoy to the UN from Russia, a key backer of Syria, accused the US and its allies of waging a “baseless smear campaign” with the chemical weapons allegations.

Speaking at the Security Council meeting, Raed Al Saleh, director of the White Helmets, a civil defence group operating in opposition-held areas, warned that Mr Al Assad could use chemical weapons to halt advancing rebels in the country's north-west.

“For six days now, as the map of military control has changed, brutal attacks launched by the Syrian regime, Russia and Iranian cross-border militias on Syrians have escalated – especially in areas outside their control in north-west Syria” he said. “I am gravely concerned about the lives of every Syrian because of the real threat of chemical attacks.”

The OPCW, which this week expressed concern over a potentially large chemical weapons stockpile in Syria, has in the past accused authorities in Damascus of using such weapons during the civil war.

The Syrian government agreed to dismantle its chemical weapons programme under the supervision of the OPCW in 2013, after a chemical attack in a Damascus suburb that killed hundreds. The OPCW began investigating allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria in 2014, and in 2018, the organisation was granted new powers to assign blame for chemical attacks.

Earlier on Thursday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres lamented the “chronic collective failure” of diplomacy in Syria. Speaking to reporters in New York, he said the latest offensive launched by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a US-designated terror group sanctioned by the Security Council, into government-controlled areas in Syria had led to “significant shifts in the front lines”.

“We are seeing the bitter fruits of a chronic collective failure of previous de-escalation arrangements to produce a genuine nationwide ceasefire or a serious political process to implement Security Council resolutions,” Mr Guterres said.

He urged all parties to engage seriously with his special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, to advance a “new, inclusive and comprehensive approach” for resolving the nearly 14-year conflict.