OPCW restores Syria voting rights after hidden chemical stockpile disclosure
The OPCW has restored Syria's voting rights after Damascus opened up hidden chemical weapons sites. The move signals wider Western re-engagement as the new leadership pledges to eliminate Assad-era stockpiles.
The global chemical weapons watchdog has restored Syria's voting rights, citing what it called Damascus' "constructive engagement" with the organisation and its willingness to destroy previously hidden stockpiles of toxic munitions.
The decision by the executive council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW, marks a shift in the body's dealings with Syria after the ouster of former president Bashar Assad in 2024. It also comes five years after Syria's voting rights were suspended over the repeated use of toxic gas by Damascus, the first time a member state had faced such a sanction.
The new cooperation has already led to fresh findings. In May, the OPCW said dozens of chemical bombs and rockets from the Assad era had been found in Syria after inspectors were given access to previously undeclared weapons sites.
The OPCW's executive council has also cleared plans to destroy part of that newly declared stockpile at a site in Al Qutayfah, 37 kilometres north of the capital. The material includes substances used to make a nerve agent.
OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias said the decisions "reflect the tangible progress achieved through continued cooperation and constructive engagement between the Technical Secretariat and the Syrian Arab Republic," with support from other member states.
The move came a day after US authorities said Washington would remove Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former insurgent who led the offensive that removed Assad, is seeking to rebuild the country and restore its long-broken ties with the West. He has also pledged to destroy any chemical weapons still left from the Assad era.
When Syria joined the OPCW in 2013, under pressure from the West over alleged poison gas attacks, Assad's administration said chemical weapons were stored at 26 sites in the country. The watchdog, however, has said it has reason to believe Syria had another 100 sites, underlining the scale of the issue now being addressed.
With PTI Inputs
The global chemical weapons watchdog has restored Syria's voting rights, citing what it called Damascus' "constructive engagement" with the organisation and its willingness to destroy previously hidden stockpiles of toxic munitions.
The decision by the executive council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW, marks a shift in the body's dealings with Syria after the ouster of former president Bashar Assad in 2024. It also comes five years after Syria's voting rights were suspended over the repeated use of toxic gas by Damascus, the first time a member state had faced such a sanction.
The new cooperation has already led to fresh findings. In May, the OPCW said dozens of chemical bombs and rockets from the Assad era had been found in Syria after inspectors were given access to previously undeclared weapons sites.
The OPCW's executive council has also cleared plans to destroy part of that newly declared stockpile at a site in Al Qutayfah, 37 kilometres north of the capital. The material includes substances used to make a nerve agent.
OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias said the decisions "reflect the tangible progress achieved through continued cooperation and constructive engagement between the Technical Secretariat and the Syrian Arab Republic," with support from other member states.
The move came a day after US authorities said Washington would remove Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former insurgent who led the offensive that removed Assad, is seeking to rebuild the country and restore its long-broken ties with the West. He has also pledged to destroy any chemical weapons still left from the Assad era.
When Syria joined the OPCW in 2013, under pressure from the West over alleged poison gas attacks, Assad's administration said chemical weapons were stored at 26 sites in the country. The watchdog, however, has said it has reason to believe Syria had another 100 sites, underlining the scale of the issue now being addressed.
With PTI Inputs
