THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Syria’s foreign minister pledged Wednesday to destroy any remaining chemical weapons in his country as he paid a historic visit to the headquarters of the global chemical weapons watchdog.
The visit by Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani came a month after the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ director, Fernando Arias, for talks with Syria’s new leaders for the first time since the fall of former President .
Al-Shibani told a meeting of the OPCW’s executive council that Syria’s new rulers have committed to “destroy any remains of the chemical weapons program developed under the Assad regime, to put an end to this painful legacy, to bring justice to victims, and to ensure that the compliance with international law is a solid one.”
He added that Syria “will need the support of the international community, with the OPCW, to achieve it.”
OPCW investigations have of repeated use of by Assad’s government during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war.
Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 to ward off the in response to a chemical attack on the outskirts of Damascus, and Assad denied using chemical weapons. Last year, the organization also found the Islamic State group had used mustard gas against the town of Marea.
Arias said the OPCW “stands ready to support the new Syrian authorities in meeting the Syrian Arab Republic’s obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.” He said a team of OPCW experts would head to Damascus in the coming days.
Arias told the council on Tuesday that the experts will work on establishing a permanent OPCW presence in Syria and begin planning visits to suspected chemical weapon sites.
“As soon as Syria’s authorities are ready, the Secretariat will deploy a mission of experts to assist Syria in drawing up an inventory of chemical weapons sites, warfare agents and precursors, equipment, munitions, and other components of the programme,” he said. “Identifying, securing, declaring, and potentially destroying these elements is our first priority.”
While in The Hague on Wednesday, Al-Shibani also visited the International Criminal Court, meeting its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan. Syria is not a member of the court, but prosecutors can support domestic efforts to mete out justice for war crimes.
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