Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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The Hague, SANA – The latest positive developments in relation to the file of the Syrian chemical weapons were reviewed during a meeting in the Hague on Tuesday that brought together Deputy Foreign and Expatriates Minister Fayssal Mikdad and UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane.
As he highlighted the developments, Mikdad also underscored the great efforts which Syria has put with regard to implementing its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the decisions of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
In the course of the talks, which were held on the sidelines of the 19th Conference of the States Parties to the CWC, Mikdad renewed Syria’s readiness to continue cooperating with the OPCW.
The UN official, for her part, welcomed the progress that has been made “in record time” as far as the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons is concerned, hailing the Syrian government’s cooperation and implementation of its CWC commitments.
The efforts seeking to convene a conference on establishing a weapons of mass destruction (WMD)-free zone in the Middle East also figured highly in the talks, with Mikdad asserting the need that Israel be pressured to accede to all international agreements on non-proliferation of WMD.
Another meeting brought together Mikdad with Finnish Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Security Policy Jaakko Laajava, where talks focused on discussing the means to facilitate the aforementioned conference.
The Finnish official presented a review of the unofficial deliberations that have been held in the past period in the framework of preparing for the conference.
Syria’s Permanent Representative to the OPCW Bassam al-Sabbagh attended the two meetings.
As the Conference of the States Parties to the CWC continued its activities after it kicked off yesterday, statements of a number of the participating delegations considered Syria’s accession to the CWC as a key and unprecedented turning point in the history of the OPCW, hailing the Syrian government’s cooperation with the Organization and abidance by its obligations in spite of the complicated and difficult security circumstances in the country.
Haifa Said
