Revealing a hidden chemical arsenal to the Assad regime and arresting 18 officers

Mohammed Qutub, Syria's Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, announced the discovery of a secret stockpile of chemical weapons belonging to the former Syrian regime, in ongoing cooperation with OPCW inspectors. Qatoub confirmed in statements to Reuters that the Syrian authorities arrested 18 people suspected of being involved in the chemical weapons program, including military, political and technical officials who held high positions during the Assad era. He pointed out that A number of the detainees held the rank of major general, and at least four of them were on the European, American and British sanctions lists. According to the OPCW report, the team of inspectors visited several high-priority sites in northern and central coastal areas, where “dozens of undeclared chemical munitions” including aerial bombs and missiles, along with related chemicals and equipment, were discovered. Inspections revealed that More than 70 missiles and aerial bombs, as well as raw materials for the production of deadly sarin gas, which was used by former regime forces in deadly attacks that killed more than 1,300 people in Eastern Ghouta in 2013 and Al-Lataminah in 2017. Inspections at three sites resulted in the finding of mixing and storage equipment for chemical weapons, and stabilized hexamine that was used in the production of sarin gas, confirming the continuation of the program clandestine chemical weapons despite Syria's international obligations to destroy them. This revelation sheds new light on the former regime's violations of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention, while the new authorities continue to cooperate with the international community to ensure the final destruction of these banned weapons.