ANKARA

Syria attend a meeting Wednesday of the international chemical weapons watchdog for the first time in its history.

Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, in his address to the 108th session of the Executive Council at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) headquarters at The Hague, emphasized that the new government “is present here, today, and it is determined to reconstruct the future of the new Syria based on transparency, justice, and cooperation with the international community.”

“At this historic juncture, our commitment today at the Executive Council is to destroy any remains of the chemical weapons program developed under the Assad regime, to put an end to this painful legacy, to bring justice to victims and to ensure that the compliance with international law is a solid one,” he said.

Syria “is dedicated to this task through a strong commitment and will need the support of the international community, with the OPCW, to achieve it,” said Shaibani.

He wrote earlier on X: “Today, for the first time in Syria's history, I am attending the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague.”

“This participation reaffirms Syria's commitment to international security and honors those who lost their lives suffocating at the hands of the Assad regime,” he added.

The former regime of Bashar al-Assad has faced accusations of launching dozens of chemical attacks to suppress anti-government and popular protests that erupted in March 2011 to demand a peaceful transition of power.

In 2013, the regime launched missiles carrying sarin gas, a fast-acting toxic nerve agent, on the eastern Ghouta area in the Damascus countryside, killing more than 1,400 victims, including hundreds of children.

Following the attack, Syria, under the regime, joined the OPCW on Sept. 13, 2013. That same month, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2118 concerning Syria’s chemical weapons.

On April 21, 2021, OPCW member states voted to suspend some of Syria’s membership rights after investigations confirmed the use of chemical weapons in attacks on Al-Lataminah in Hama in March 2017, and Saraqib in Idlib in February 2018.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa met last month a delegation from OPCW in Damascus, led by director-general Fernando Arias Gonzalez.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, ending the regime of the Baath Party, which had been in power since 1963.