UNITED NATIONS – Pakistan has underscored the need to address foreign military occupation of parts of Syria, air strikes and terrorism to “enable a conducive environment for resolution of chemical-weapons-related issues” in the country. “The risk of terrorism and presence of foreign terrorist fighters also pose a challenge to the country’s security and affect the verification activities of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW),” Ambassador Usman Jadoon, deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the UN Security Council, which discussed the situation in the Middle East (Syria/Chemical Weapons). Syria has been mired in conflict since 2011, when protests during the wider Arab Spring escalated into a civil war involving the Government of Bashar al-Assad, opposition groups and various foreign actors. After more than a decade of fighting, the Assad Government collapsed in late 2024, ending his family’s decades-long rule. Meanwhile, the international community continues to press the new authorities in Damascus for clarity over the country’s past chemical weapons programme under the oversight of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the body responsible for implementing and enforcing the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). In his comments, the Pakistani envoy appreciated Syrian authorities’ commitment to fully implement the CWC and its cooperation to secure suspected chemical weapons sites and address outstanding issues. The OPCW Technical Secretariat must continue to be enabled to carry out its independent verification to eliminate suspected chemical weapons in Syria and any risks of proliferation, in compliance with the CWC. Enhancing the capacity of Syrian authorities would contribute to the work of the OPCW including in declaration, investigation, analysis and verification on expedited basis, Ambassador Jadoon said.
