The Minister of State for the Middle East, South Asia, UN and the
Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual
Violence in Conflict, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, has
condemned the Assad regime for its use of chemical weapons
following the publication of a report by the OPCW which
determined that the Syrian Arab Armed Forces used chlorine as a
chemical weapon in an attack on Douma in April 2018.
Minister for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon,
responded to the report:
Today’s report from the Organisation for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons provides compelling evidence that this heinous
chemical weapons attack in Syria was carried out by the Assad
regime against its own people.
We share the OPCW’s assessment on Bashar al-Assad and his
regime’s culpability and commend their resilience,
professionalism and expert independent analysis in the face of
desperate attempts by Syria and Russia to block this
investigation.
We remember the victims of the Douma attack and remain committed
to pursuing the justice they deserve. We are steadfast in our
commitment to holding all those who use chemical weapons to
account.
This is the third report by the OPCW’s Investigation and
Identification Team (IIT) into chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
Following a lengthy and meticulous investigation and despite
Syria’s attempts to block investigation, the OPCW report has
concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the
Syrian Arab Air Forces were the perpetrators of the chemical
weapons attack on 7 April 2018 in Douma, Syrian Arab Republic.
Previous reports from the IIT had found the Assad regime
responsible for carrying out three separate attacks with sarin
and chlorine in Ltamenah in March 2017 and using chlorine in
Saraqib in February 2018. Both are prohibited under international
law.
The United Kingdom is determined to identify those responsible
for chemical weapons attacks and hold them to account. Following
the attack in 2018, the UK and allies identified that a
significant body of information indicated the Syrian regime’s
responsibility for the attack.
The UK, France and the US also carried out a limited and targeted
strike to degrade and deter the use of chemical weapons by the
Syrian regime. We are clear that we will not allow the use of
chemical weapons to be normalised and remain firm in our resolve
to respond appropriately.
The OPCW’s meticulous investigations have now confirmed the UK’s
assessment that the Assad regime was responsible. The UK fully
supports the OPCW’s investigations.
The OPCW membership has suspended Syria’s voting rights and
privileges in the OPCW until it complies with its chemical
weapons obligations. Syria must fully declare and destroy all
aspects of its chemical weapons programme.
