Chemical weapons watchdog reinstates Syria’s voting rights

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The global chemical weapons watchdog on Thursday reinstated Syria’s voting rights at the body, rewarding Damascus for “constructive engagement” with the organization and a willingness to destroy previously hidden stockpiles of toxic munitions.

The decision by the executive council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons underscores a new era of cooperation since the ouster of former President Bashar Assad in 2024, and comes five years after Syria’s voting rights were suspended as a punishment for the repeated use of toxic gas by Damascus. It was the first time a member state had been hit with such a sanction.

The new openness has already produced results, In May, the OPCW announced that dozens of chemical bombs and rockets left over from Assad’s rule had been found in the country as previously undeclared weapons sites were opened to inspectors.

The OPCW’s executive council also approved plans for destroying some of that recently declared stockpile at a site in Al Qutayfah, 37 kilometers (23 miles) north of the capital, including materials used to make a nerve agent.

The decisions “reflect the tangible progress achieved through continued cooperation and constructive engagement between the Technical Secretariat and the Syrian Arab Republic,” supported by other member states, OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias said in a statement.

The move comes a day after U.S. authorities announced that Washington will remove Syria from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former insurgent who led the offensive that unseated Assad, seeks to rebuild Syria and restore its long-shattered ties with the West. He also has pledged to destroy any remaining chemical weapons from the Assad era.

When Syria joined the OPCW in 2013, under pressure from the West over alleged poison gas attacks, Assad’s administration claimed chemical weapons were present at 26 locations in the country, but the watchdog has said it has reason to believe Syria had an additional 100 sites.

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