Weapons inspectors given access to facilities from Assad regime

Syria’s new caretaker officials have allowed chemical weapons inspectors access to previously unvisited production and storage facilities used by the former Bashar al-Assad regime, demonstrating the interim government’s willingness to cooperate with the international community.

Reuters reported on March 28th that a group from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) travelled to Syria between March 12th-21st, to take the necessary steps to find and dismantle the remains of Assad’s illicit stockpile. The inspectors visited five different sites that were previously hidden by the former Assad regime.

The OPCW was allowed to see key documents detailing the Assad regime’s chemical weapons programme, marking a significant improvement in the relationship between the country’s government and the OPCW.

A unnamed source said that the compliance of the Syrian caretakers demonstrate the interim government’s willingness to make progress on its pledge to work with the global community, to dismantle Assad’s chemical weapons supply.

In the statement about the visit, the OPCW said the “Syrian caretaker authorities extended all possible support and cooperation at short notice.” It also said that the group was allowed “unfettered access” to the sites as well as people and was also given security escorts.

Assad and his Russian army allies always lclaimed that they did not use chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict, which started in 2011 and killed hundreds of thousands.

Reuters