Source: United Nations (video statements)
The Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Adedeji Ebo, told the Security Council that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the Syrian Arab Republic “have continued to engage on how to eliminate any remnants of the chemical weapons programme developed by the previous government.”
Addressing a Council meeting on the implementation of resolution 2118 on Syria’s chemical weapons programme, Ebo recalled that “since 2014, the OPCW Technical Secretariat has not been able to confirm that the declaration submitted by the previous government was accurate and complete.”
He said, “in addition to the 26 declared chemical weapons-related sites, information made available to the OPCW suggests that there are more than 100 other sites that may have been involved in the previous government’s chemical-weapons related activities. As part of its work on this matter, the OPCW Technical Secretariat plans to visit all these locations.”
Ebo said the new Government of Syria “has been working with the OPCW Technical Secretariat to obtain clarifications on the full extent and scope of the programme developed by the previous Government and to ensure Syria’s long-term compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention.”
He urged Council members “to unite and show leadership in providing the support that this unprecedented effort will require” and added that the United Nations “stands ready to support and will continue to do our part to uphold the norm against the use of chemical weapons – anywhere and at any time.”