The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons urges an investigation into Syria after the ouster of Assad | news

The head of the International Chemical Weapons Control Agency said he will ask Syria’s new leaders to allow investigators into the country to work on identifying the perpetrators of attacks that killed and injured thousands of people during the civil war.

Addressing a special session of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on Thursday, Fernando Arias said his office had seen positive signals from Syria about the need to rid the country of chemical weapons but had not received any formal request.

The 41-member Executive Board of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons met in The Hague to discuss next steps after the sudden ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The US Ambassador to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Nicole Champagne, said before the meeting that Washington considers the fall of Assad an exceptional opportunity to rid Syria of chemical weapons.

“We want to finish the mission, and this is a real opportunity for the new Syrian leadership to work with the international community, and to work with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to accomplish the mission once and for all,” Champagne said.

Arias said that the evolving political landscape in Syria provides an opportunity for the organization to finally obtain clarification on the full extent and scope of the Syrian chemical weapons program after 11 years of inspections.

Warning of the risks of proliferation, he said: “The victims deserve to see the perpetrators we have identified brought to justice” after the repeated use of chemical weapons during Syria’s 13-year war.

Arias will request access to the OPCW’s investigation and identification team. That unit and the joint mechanism between the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have already determined that the Syrian armed forces used chemical weapons nine times in the period from 2015 to 2017.

The perpetrators of many attacks remain unknown.

“Acting with impunity”

Syria joined the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in 2013 under a US-Russian agreement and the international community destroyed 1,300 metric tons of chemical weapons and their precursors. But after more than a decade of inspections, Syria still possesses banned munitions.

Syria, ruled by Assad, and its military ally Russia have always denied using chemical weapons during the war.

As chaos continues in Syria with countless armed groups across the torn country, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons seeks to move quickly to prevent the use of any chemical weapons.

Echoing such concerns, Germany’s ambassador to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Thomas Schepp, said: “Related warehouses and facilities must be identified, secured and opened for inspection by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.”

He added: “We will judge the new Syrian authorities by their actions. Now is the opportunity to destroy the remnants of Assad’s chemical weapons program once and for all and verifiably.

Israeli strikes

Meanwhile, Israel continued to bomb Syria, striking ports and missile depots in Latakia and Tartous, while its ground forces pushed into a demilitarized zone in the Syrian Golan Heights, in effect expanding its occupation of the region.

Israeli forces have launched more than 480 air strikes on Syrian sites since the fall of Assad on Sunday, continuing the campaign they began while the ousted president was in power.

A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was deeply concerned about “the recent and widespread violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

“The Secretary-General is particularly concerned about hundreds of Israeli air strikes on several locations in Syria, stressing the urgent need to stop the escalation of violence on all fronts across the country,” Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, defending Israel’s actions, said the strikes were aimed at ensuring that the Syrian army’s military equipment did not fall into the “wrong hands.”

Daniel Levy, a former Israeli negotiator and head of the United States-Middle East Project, said that Israel is exploiting this moment to “weaken” any future Syrian authority “and its ability to defend itself.”

I think the signal that Israel believes it is sending is: We are here. We are the regional police. “We can act with impunity,” Levy told Al Jazeera.

The raids were carried out while hundreds of people were attending the funeral of slain Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada, whose body was recently found in Saydnaya prison, a facility outside Damascus that Amnesty International described as a “human slaughterhouse.”

While all detainees are believed to have been released, thousands remain missing.

The new Syrian administration has called on citizens to apply to join the police force, pledging to establish the “rule of law” after years of abuses under Assad.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent from Damascus, Muhammad Faal, said that Syria’s new rulers have “huge” tasks ahead of them.

He added that apart from political and security concerns, the country is facing “economic chaos.”

“People can’t wait. This country is at rock bottom because of what’s happening with the economy,” Fall said.