Bombs and products from Assad's chemical weapons program are recovered

Syria's transitional leadership has located remnants of former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's clandestine chemical weapons program, including raw materials and ammunition similar to those used to carry out deadly gas attacks during the country's long civil war, a Syrian official told Reuters on Tuesday (26).

Syrian authorities also took into custody 18 suspects for alleged involvement in Assad's chemical weapons program, including military personnel, politicians and senior technicians, Mohamad Katoub, Syria's permanent representative to the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) in The Hague, said in an interview.

The names of the suspects were not released because the investigation was ongoing, he said, adding that several of these people had served as major generals under the Assad regime. At least four were on European, UK or US sanctions lists, according to Katoub.

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Syria, which became an ally of the West after 14 years of civil war, has pledged to work with the international community to rid itself of legacy weapons of mass destruction that pose a proliferation risk.

Chemical munitions found
The OPCW said in a report on Tuesday that its team in Syria had visited several undeclared high-priority sites in the northern coastal and central areas with Syrian authorities.

The mission was ongoing, but "dozens of undeclared chemical munitions, such as aerial bombs and rockets, as well as chemicals and related equipment found separately" were discovered.

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Syrian teams, working for months with OPCW inspectors, located more than 70 rockets and aerial bombs, as well as raw ingredients for the production of sarin, a nerve agent used by Assad's forces in attacks that killed more than 1,300 people in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta in August 2013 and in Al-Lataminah in March 2017, it said. Katoub.

Chemical weapons mixing and storage equipment and hexamine, a stabilization agent known to have been used by Assad's forces in the production of sarin, were also found during searches at three locations.

"Despite the secrecy, the danger and the immense security challenges... today we fulfill our duty to the Syrian people and to the world", highlighted Katoub.

"This is the first time that these munitions can be recovered before being used in crimes against the Syrian people," he added.

He stated that the protection and storage of found materials contribute to national and global security.

Joint investigations by the UN and the global chemical weapons control body in The Hague had previously found that sarin, as well as chlorine gas and sulfur mustard gas, were used repeatedly by the Assad regime.

The OPCW, which oversees the international ban on toxic munitions, said around 100 sites across Syria need to be inspected.

Syria signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013 and declared a stockpile of 1,300 tons, but prohibited use continued. The size of the remaining program and inventory was unclear.

In March, Syria launched a US-backed plan to rid the country of its legacy of chemical weapons.

Source: CNN