Al-Jaafari: UN Secretary-General informed that Syria joined Chemical Weapons Convention

Syria’s permanent representative to the UN Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari said that he informed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that Syria has joined Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction of 1992.

In a statement to SANA on Friday, al-Jaafari said that he asked on behalf of the Syrian government Ki-moon, as the custodian of the Convent, to lodge the document of Syria’s joining at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and inform all UN members countries of Syria’s decision to join the Convention.

He pointed out that Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem sent a letter to the Director-General of OPCW informing him of Syria join the Convention.

Al-Jaafari noted that this wasn’t a spur of the moment decision, as Syria had submitted to the Security Council in 2003 a draft resolution for making the entire Middle East clear of WMDs, but all Syrian efforts in this regard were thwarted by the refusal of Israel and its protectors, adding that this isn’t the first time Syria shows good intentions and makes initiatives in the field of clearing the area of WMDs, primarily Israel’s nuclear arsenal.

He added that Israel has possessed nuclear weapons for a long time, pointing out to a leaked CIA report in 1983 which confirms that Israel possesses nuclear weapons, yet nobody reacted to that.