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Image Courtesy of Syrian Ministry of Interior<\/p>\nSyria Arrests Assad\u2019s Chemical Weapons Engineer<\/p>\n
Image Courtesy of Syrian Ministry of Interior<\/p>\n
By: Connor J. Buss \/ Arab America Contributing Writer<\/p>\n
On July 15th, Syrian authorities under the new government led by President al-Sharaa announced they had arrested Ahmed Habib Ali, an officer under Bashar al-Assad\u2019s regime claimed to be a chemical weapons specialist.<\/p>\n
The Syrian Interior Ministry stated that Ali \u201cwas responsible for sarin gas storage facilities and chemical manufacturing within Unit 417\u201d, a chemical weapons research site near Damascus. They added that he was \u201cone of the officers who supervised the manufacture of about 20 bombs loaded with sarin gas, each weighing 250kg [550lb], which were used in attacks targeting Syrian cities and towns in 2013 and 2017.\u201d<\/p>\n
OPCW<\/p>\n
This arrest comes just a week after Syria was reinstated to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). OPCW is a group aiming to eliminate the use of chemical weapons worldwide. In 2021, Syria had its OPCW voting rights stripped away after OPCW found evidence of Assad\u2019s use of chemical weapons. In 2013, Syria agreed to hand over its 1,000-tonne chemical weapons arsenal after a joint Russia-U.S. proposal<\/a> following airstrike threats. This proposal was made after a chemical weapon attack on a suburb in Damascus<\/a> killed over 1,400 people, including 426 children.<\/p>\n However, Assad did not adhere to the agreement. The regime would later conduct full-scale gas and chlorine attacks on towns in 2014 and 2017. In addition to being a violation of OPCW membership, the attacks are also an internationally recognized war crime<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ali was also responsible for the misleading of international inspectors of the chemical weapons arsenal. The full arsenal was not fully declared, and the complete scope and scale of the weapons was not disclosed.<\/p>\n In addition to use of chemical weapons being used to fight the civil war, they were also used on civilians. The weapons were used to suppress protests<\/a> opposing Assad\u2019s government. Additionally, protestors were detained and kept in inhumane conditions, with former detainees describing physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. Reports describe detainees being forcefully conscripted to fight for Assad\u2019s forces.<\/p>\n The Bigger Picture<\/p>\n Ali\u2019s arrest is one of many, as the provisional government led by president al-Sharaa has arrested dozens of Assad-era officers under suspicion of various crimes. The crackdown is traced back to the violent suppression of popular protests in 2011. The violence used then is where charges these officials are facing come from.<\/p>\n