Syria denies using chemical weapons in civil war

A European Union envoy however has criticised Damascus for “gaps and contradictions” in its declarations about its chemical weapons arsenal to the organisation which oversees the destruction of toxic armaments,

Members of the UN investigation team take samples from the ground in the Damascus countryside of Zamalka, Syria. AP Photo/Local Committee of Arbeen

The Hague // Syria on Monday “categorically” denied ever using chemical weapons in its four-year civil war, telling a global watchdog it is cooperating fully with the destruction of its toxic stockpile.

However, a European Union envoy criticised Damascus for “gaps and contradictions” in its declarations about its chemical weapons arsenal to the organisation which oversees the destruction of the toxic armaments - the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

At the OPCW annual meeting on Monday, EU representative Jacek Bylica said there were “many uncertainties regarding the dismantling of Syria’s chemical weapons programme”.

“These uncertainties lead to doubts as to compliance by Syria with its obligations under the convention,” Mr Bylica said at the opening of the five-day assembly in The Hague.

Syria’s deputy foreign minister Faysal Mekdad rejected the claims, saying that only a few “technical elements” remained to be ironed out.

“We wish here to state categorically that we have never used chlorine or any other toxic chemicals during any incidents or any other operations in the Syrian Arab Republic since the beginning of the crisis and up to this very day,” Mr Mekdad told delegates from the OPCW’s 192 states.

Syria declared an arsenal of 1,300 tons of chemical weapons when it joined the OPCW in 2013 under pressure from the international community following a deadly chemical attack on a Damascus neighbourhood.

More than 99 per cent of those weapons have been destroyed, but questions remain about whether Syria declared all of its stockpiles

Last week the OPCW itself voiced “grave concern” at the continued use of toxic arms in Syria. The OPCW has a special team reviewing Syria’s declarations amid fears that if the nation still has chemical weapons or production capabilities they could fall into the hands of insurgents fighting in the country’s civil war, including ISIL.

Separately, Iran said on Monday that Saudi Arabia’s plan to host a meeting of armed and political opponents of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad would breach declarations made during recent international peace talks.

Tehran and Riyadh are on opposite sides of the conflict in Syria but both have taken part in two major meetings in Vienna aimed at finding a political solution.

The planned meeting in Riyadh in December could boost unity in the Syrian opposition to enter talks on ending the conflict, in which 250,000 people have been killed, the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has said.

But Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African Affairs, criticised the planned gathering of anti-Assad political and military groups, calling it “hasty and unconstructive”.

“It was agreed in Vienna that the UN representative in Syrian affairs try to determine a list of opposition groups by broad consultation,” he was quoted as saying.

“Tehran does not approve of measures outside this declaration.”

* Agence France-Presse, Associated Press