Syria is committed to a deal to hand over its chemical weapons, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview, as major powers inched closer to a UN resolution enshrining the agreement.
The Syrian president, in the interview with Venezuelan television station Telesur broadcast on Wednesday, said he saw “no obstacles” to a plan under which Damascus will relinquish its chemical arms.
His comments came as UN experts arrived in Damascus to resume their investigations into about 14 incidents in which chemical weapons are alleged to have been used.
Photo: Reuters
Al-Assad told Telesur that his government was committed to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which it signed as part of the Russia-US agreement on the destruction of its chemical arsenal.
“Syria is generally committed to all the agreements that it signs,” he said in the interview, which was published in full by the Syrian state news agency SANA yesterday.
He said Damascus had begun to send the required details of its chemical arsenal to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is overseeing the deal, and that OPCW inspectors were expected to visit Syria.
“Experts [from the OPCW] will come to Syria in the coming period to look into the status of these weapons,” he said. “As the Syrian government, there are no serious obstacles.”
“But there is always the possibility that the terrorists will obstruct the work of the experts by preventing them from accessing certain places,” al-Assad said.
The Syrian regime calls all those fighting against it “terrorists.”
Syria agreed to turn over its chemical arsenal under a deal thrashed out following an Aug. 21 sarin attack in the suburbs of Damascus, which killed hundreds of people.
The attack, which occurred as UN chemical weapons experts were in Syria investigating previous alleged chemical attacks, was blamed on the Syrian regime by Washington and other international backers of the Syrian opposition.
Al-Assad’s government denies involvement, but agreed to turn over its chemical arsenal in the face of threatened US military action.
The deal halted talk of a US assault, but al-Assad said it was “the possibility of aggression is always there.”
“This time, the pretext is chemical weapons, next time it will be something else,” he said.
At the UN, the permanent members of the Security Council made progress on a resolution enshrining the chemical weapons deal.
Some Western envoys said important progress has been made on the resolution. One said there was agreement on “the main points” of a text which could be put to the 15-member UN Security Council.
The envoy said it could result in a resolution that allows for a later vote on sanctions under Chapter VII of the UN Charter if Syria fails to honor the Russia-US plan.
However, Russian officials denied that there was any agreement on potential sanctions.
“We’re making progress, but we’re not done yet,” a senior State Department official said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from