President of the Syrian Coalition Anas Abdah on Tuesday sent letters to 26 countries and international organizations, including the United Nations, the European Union, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, explaining the repercussions of the chemical attack by the Assad regime against civilians in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rural Idlib on Tuesday.
Abdah stressed that the town was free of any armed presence at the time of the attack, adding that the crime is “reminiscent of the morning of 21 August 2013 when Assad gassed over a thousand civilians in besieged Ghouta, near Damascus, to death.”
“The Assad regime has continued to use Chlorine and other chemical weapons across Syrian soil in a flagrant breach of its obligations according the Chemical Weapons Convention to which it acceded following the Ghouta massacre in 2013.”
Abdah stressed that such attacks further constitute a violation of Security Council Resolutions 2118 (2013), 2209 (2015), 2235 (2015), as well as the ceasefire which took effect in December 29, 2016.
“This now established history of use of chemical weapons makes it clear that Assad has been emboldened by the unfortunate international inaction and absence of accountability,” Abdah added.
Abdah called for immediate action as the UN Security Council meets for an emergency session on the attack “to ensure this attack is investigated expeditiously and the perpetrators held to account.”
“Failure to do so would not only give Syrian civilians, yet again, the extremely frustrating message that their suffering will continue to be tolerated and Assad’s crimes will continue to go unpunished, but it would also undermine the whole UN-sponsored political process making the likelihood of reaching a political solution more remote than ever.”
“Only justice, freedom and a new free Syria, the one they have been demanding since 2011 will help them heal and regain faith in the international system and mechanisms,” Abdah added. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
