Syrian Coalition Rejects Referring the Syrian Chemical Weapons File to OPCW

Hassan Hachimi, member of the political committee, criticizes Russia’s attempts to deport the file of Assad’s chemical weapons from the UN Security Council to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), saying these attempts are aimed at watering down the issue of Assad’s use of chemical weapons and shielding him from any accountability. “Russia continues to delay Assad’s compliance with this file by burying it in a maze of new procedures intended to buy him more time and prevent its referral to the International Criminal Court. There are preparations under way to refer the file to the International Special Tribunal in case Russian decided to veto a possible UN Security Council resolution to refer the file to the ICC,” Hachimi said. This Special Tribunal is set up by countries that are convinced of the need to hold the Assad regime to account for his use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, and is similar to the Tribunal set up for the murder of former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri.” Furthermore, Hachimi points out that “international political developments will inevitably have an impact on the Syrian file. “We expect that the United States will put pressure on Russia concerning the crises in the Ukraine and Syria to reduce their support for the Assad regime.” The Western countries want to keep the file of Syria’s chemical weapons in the UN Security Council, while Russia seeks to move it to the OPCW in The Hague, to which Syria joined last year. (Source: Syrian Coalition)