According to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Syrian government has refused to admit a team of investigators who were meant to identify specific culprits in past alleged chemical weapons attacks.
There was a previous joint investigations team that already investigated
those incidents, and issued conclusions. That team’s mandate ended in
November 2017, and over objections by Syria and Russia, this new team
was formed to try to pin the attacks on somebody.
The previous team concluded Syrian forces had used banned agents in some
attacks, and blamed ISIS for a mustard gas attack. Syrian officials said they considered the matter done with that team, and didn’t want to give the new team access to all sorts of secret documents just to keep the investigation open.
Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister has twice issued warnings about their
opposition to the team in May, and made it clear once again this week
that they don’t intend to issue any travel documents to the new team.
Syria Won’t Admit Chemical Weapons Investigators
Officials objected to giving them access to secret information
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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