Articles by "OPCW"
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Hello Jammu News at 4:26:00 PM 0


United Nations, Apr 14: The United Nations Secretary-General has called on the international community to avoid actions which could escalate the crisis in Syria and deepen the suffering of its people.
António Guterres made the appeal late on Friday evening just hours after the United States, France and Britain launched air strikes targeting sites associated with the country’s chemical weapons capabilities.
“There’s an obligation, particularly when dealing with matters of peace and security, to act consistently with the Charter of the United Nations and with international law in general. The UN Charter is very clear on these issues,” Mr Guterres said in a statement issued by his spokesperson.
“The Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. I call on the members of the Security Council to unite and exercise that responsibility. I urge all Member States to show restraint in these dangerous circumstances and to avoid any acts that could escalate the situation and worsen the suffering of the Syrian people.”
The joint operation by the US and its allies was in response to a suspected chemical attack in the city of Douma last week.
UN partner the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has deployed a fact-finding mission to the area.
Mr Guterres deplored the use of chemical weapons, which he described as “abhorrent.”
Earlier on Friday, the Secretary-General had called on the Security Council to create an independent body to determine who had used chemical weapons in Syria.
Last October, the Council failed to renew the mandate of a UN-OPCW body, known as the Joint Inspection Mechanism, which was established three years ago.
“I have repeatedly expressed my deep disappointment that the Security Council failed to agree on a dedicated mechanism for effective accountability for the use of chemical weapons in Syria,” his statement said.
“I urge the Security Council to assume its responsibilities and fill this gap.” UNI
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Hello Jammu News at 12:27:00 PM 0


Washington, Apr 14: The US, UK and France have bombed multiple government targets in Syria in an early morning operation targeting alleged chemical weapons sites, says a BBC News report on Saturday.
The strikes are in response to a suspected chemical attack on the Syrian town of Douma last week.
Explosions hit the capital, Damascus, as well as two locations near the city of Homs, the Pentagon said.
Russia's ambassador to the US responded by saying the attack on its ally "will not be left without consequences".
"A combined operation with the armed forces of France and the United Kingdom is now under way," President Trump said in an address to the nation from the White House at about 21:00 local time (02:00 BST).
The wave of strikes is the most significant attack against President Bashar al-Assad's government by western powers in seven years of Syria's civil war.
At a Pentagon briefing shortly after Mr Trump's announcement, Gen Joseph Dunford listed three targets that had been struck: (1) a scientific research facility in Damascus, allegedly connected to the production of chemical and biological weapons; (2) a chemical weapons storage facility west of Homs; and (3) a chemical weapons equipment storage and an important command post, also near Homs.
Syrian state television said government forces had shot down more than a dozen missiles, and claimed only the research facility in Damascus had been damaged.
US Secretary of Defence James Mattis told reporters there were no reports of US losses in the operation.
In his earlier address, President Trump had said: "We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents."
But Secretary Mattis said that "right now, this is a one-time shot". Gen Dunford confirmed the wave of strikes had ended.
Gen Dunford said the US had specifically identified targets that would "mitigate" the risk of Russian casualties. But the Pentagon said that Russia - which has forces on the ground in Syria in support of the government - had not been given advance notice of the targets.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed British involvement, saying there was "no practicable alternative to the use of force".
UK strikes carried out by four Tornado jets hit one of the targets mentioned by the Pentagon - a military site near the city of Homs which is believed to have housed precursor materials for chemical weapons, according to the UK ministry of defence.
French President Emmanuel Macron also confirmed his country's participation in the operation.
"Dozens of men, women and children were massacred with chemical weapons," he said of the Douma incident a week ago - adding that "the red line had been crossed".
This attack was more significant than the US strike against a Syrian air base a little over a year ago, but at first sight seems more limited than President Trump's rhetoric may have suggested.
Last year some 59 missiles were fired. This time a little over double that number were used.
The strikes are over for now, but there was a clear warning that if the Assad regime resorts to chemical weapons again then further strikes may well follow.
Care was taken, say the Americans, to avoid both Syrian and "foreign" - for that read Russian - casualties.
But the fundamental questions remain. Will President Assad be deterred?
Last year's US strike failed to change his behaviour. This time, will it be any different?
Syria has denied carrying out the Douma attack and its ally, Russia, had warned that Western military strikes would risk starting a war.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has dispatched a fact-finding mission to the site of the alleged attack in Syria. Investigators were due to start their probe later on Saturday.
Sana, Syria's official state news agency, called the western action "a flagrant violation of international law".
"The American, French and British aggression against Syria will fail," it said.
A US official told Reuters news agency that Tomahawk cruise missiles were being used against multiple locations in Syria.
Secretary Mattis also said the scale of the strikes was about "double" what was launched in April 2017 after a chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed more than 80 people.
The strikes were ordered "on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities" of the Syrian government, Mr Trump said.
The US president said the purpose was "to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons".
"These are not the actions of a man, they are the crimes of a monster instead," he said of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
British-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, suggested that more targets than the three listed by the Pentagon had been hit.
It said western forces had struck "scientific research centres, several military bases, and the bases of the Republican Guard and Fourth Division in the capital Damascus and around it."
One Damascus resident told BBC News: "It was mayhem above us."
"I saw more than 20 anti-air missiles launched. They'd fly really high then start weaving across, like they were following their target.
"I didn't see the cruise missiles, but I saw some falling debris nearby."
What has the reaction been?
Reaction to the strikes was mixed among the international community.
The Nato Secretary General, Jen Stoltenberg, tweeted support for the western strikes, saying those who use chemical weapons "must be held accountable".
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also expressed his nation's support.
John Mc Cain, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a top Republican who is often critical of the president, applauded Mr Trump for taking military action.
Across the aisle, however, some Democrats said that President Trump should come before Congress and receive authorisation for the use of military force.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, warned UN members of their responsibilities.
"There's an obligation, particularly when dealing with matters of peace and security, to act consistently with the Charter of the United Nations and with international law in general," he said.
"I urge all Member States to show restraint in these dangerous circumstances." UNI
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Hello Jammu News at 6:47:00 PM 0


The Hague, Apr 13: The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has transmitted to the United Kingdom (UK) the report of the OPCW’s mission to provide requested technical assistance in regard to the Salisbury incident on 4 March 2018.
According to information supplied by OPCW on Thursday, the results of the analysis by the OPCW designated laboratories of environmental and biomedical samples collected by the OPCW team confirm the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical that was used in Salisbury and severely injured three people.
The UK’s delegation to the OPCW requested that the Technical Secretariat share the report with all States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and to make the Executive Summary of the report publicly available.
The Director-General, Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, thanked the four OPCW designated laboratories that supported the technical assistance request for their swift and thorough analysis. 
The United Kingdom had requested technical assistance from the OPCW Technical Secretariat, under subparagraph 38(e) of Article VIII of the Chemical Weapons Convention, in relation to an incident in Salisbury on 4 March 2018 involving a toxic chemical — allegedly a nerve agent — and the poisoning and hospitalisation of three individuals. 
The OPCW team worked independently and is not involved in the national investigation by the UK authorities. No State Party was involved in the technical work carried out by the Technical Secretariat.
OPCW designated laboratories are a lynchpin of the Organisation’s verification regime and its capacity to investigate allegations of the use of chemical weapons. They must be able to perform off-site analysis of chemical samples collected by OPCW inspectors from chemical production facilities, storage depots and other installations, or from the site of an alleged use of chemical weapons. These laboratories offer the necessary assurance to our States Parties that chemical analyses needed to make determinations or to clarify issues occurring during OPCW deployments are carried out competently, impartially, and with unambiguous results. 
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW oversees the global endeavour to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997 – and with its 192 States Parties – it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. 
Over ninety-six per cent of all chemical weapon stockpiles declared by possessor States have been destroyed under OPCW verification. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Prize for Peace. UNI
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Hello Jammu News at 2:11:00 PM 0


United nations, Mar 27: A United Nations spokesman has confirmed that the world body was aware of the announcement by the United States Government of its decision to take action against certain Russian diplomats in the US.
“This action may require those members to leave the country,” Deputy UN Spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters at the daily press briefing on Monday, citing the UN-US Headquarters Agreement, which governs the relations between the Organization and the Host country. 
“Given the sensitivity of the matter, which is ongoing, we will not comment further at this stage other than to confirm that the Secretary-General will closely follow this matter and engage as appropriate with the Governments concerned,” he said.
News reports suggest that the US Administration on Monday ordered the expulsion of 60 Russians from the US, following similar actions taken by other countries in the wake of the allegation by the United Kingdom that Russia was behind an attack using a deadly nerve-agent in Salisbury on 4 March, which left Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, hospitalised in critical condition.
On 14 March, the UK brought the charge before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council, where US Ambassador Nikki Haley said that the US stood in solidarity with the UK in denouncing the “crime” and believed Russia had been responsible for the attack.
At the same meeting, both Russia and the United Kingdom said the incident should be investigated by the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the UN-backed body which works to implement the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and eliminate chemical weapons use, and the threat of their use.
The UK Foreign Ministry announced later that independent investigators from the OPCW were due to arrive in the UK on Monday, 19 March to kick off their probe into the nerve agent used in the Salisbury attack. UNI
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Hello Jammu News at 2:20:00 PM 0


United Nations, Feb 28: North Korea has been sending equipment to Syria that could be used to make chemical weapons, a UN report says.
Some 40 previously unreported shipments were made between 2012 and 2017, the report found. Materials included acid-resistant tiles, valves and pipes, according to a BBC News report.
The report -- yet to be released -- said N Korean missile specialists had been seen at Syrian weapon-making centres.
The allegations follow new reports of chlorine gas being used by Syrian forces, which the government denies.
A second daily pause in fighting in the Eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus is due to begin, to allow in relief aid.
Aid was unable to enter the rebel-held region on Tuesday -- the first of the five-hour "pauses" in fighting -- after clashes continued.
Activists blamed government air and artillery strikes, while Russia said rebels had shelled a "humanitarian corridor" meant to let civilians leave.
North Korea is under international sanctions over its nuclear programme.
According to the confidential report, seen by the BBC, North Korea sent illicit supplies to Syria which included high-heat, acid-resistant tiles, corrosion-resistant valves and thermometers. The tiles are said to be used to construct facilities where chemical weapons are produced.
The Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) - a Syrian government agency - is alleged to have paid North Korea via a number of front companies.
The report was compiled by the UN Panel of Experts, which assesses North Korea's compliance with UN resolutions.
UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric did not say whether the leaked report would be published, but told the New York Times: "I think the overarching message is that all member states have a duty and responsibility to abide by the sanctions that are in place."
In a September 2017 report, which is publicly available, the group said it was "investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation" between Syria and North Korea.
It said that two UN member states had intercepted shipments bound for Syria, and that the goods were suspected to be supplied by North Korea's main arms exporter as part of a contract with front companies representing the SSRC.
The Syrian government is reported to have told the UN panel that the only North Koreans present in Syria are sports coaches and athletes.
Syria signed up to the Chemical Weapons Convention and agreed to have its declared chemical weapons stock destroyed in 2013 after a sarin gas attack killed hundreds of people in Ghouta.
It has been accused of repeatedly using banned chemical weapons in the civil war since then.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) concluded that sarin nerve gas was used in Khan Sheikhoun, in Idlib province, last April in an incident that killed more than 80 people. UN investigators said the Syrian air force was to blame.
The US carried out missile strikes on a Syrian air base in response but President Bashar al-Assad maintained the incident was faked.
Suspected chlorine gas attacks have been recently reported in Syria, including on Sunday in the Eastern Ghouta, a besieged rebel-held enclave near the capital Damascus.
The OPCW is investigating those attacks, Reuters news agency reports, citing diplomatic sources. UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is among Western leaders who have suggested the Syrian government could be attacked if there is fresh "incontrovertible" evidence that chemical weapons have been used against civilians.
Experts say that North Korea has long offered military supplies and weapons know-how around the world in exchange for cash.
The UN report is said to highlight its efforts to illicitly trade with dozens of countries and groups in the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America.
Syria and North Korea have decades-old military ties. UNI
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