Chemical arms watchdog weighs Syria sanctions

World powers urged the global chemical weapons watchdog on Tuesday to hit Syria with unprecedented sanctions for alleged toxic gas attacks and for failing to declare its arsenal.

Syria faces the loss of its "rights and privileges" at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) after a probe found it had carried out three attacks in 2017. The regulator’s 193 member states are expected to vote on Wednesday on a proposal by France, backed by 46 countries, that would include freezing Syria’s voting rights at the Netherlands-based body. Syria and its ally Russia dismissed the sanctions threat, accusing Western powers of using the Hague-based OPCW as a "propaganda tool" to undermine Damascus in its ten-year civil war.

"We cannot let this tragedy go on for another decade," French OPCW ambassador Luis Vassy told the watchdog. "We find ourselves in an exceptional situation, which demands that we take action accordingly."

It would be the first time a country had faced such punishment in the history of the OPCW, which was founded nearly a quarter of a century ago to rid the world of chemical weapons. The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed in 2013 to join the OPCW and give up all chemical weapons, following a suspected sarin nerve gas attack that killed 1,400 people in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

But an OPCW investigation found in April last year that the Syrian air force was responsible for three attacks on the village of Lataminah in 2017 using sarin and chlorine gas.

Damascus then failed to adhere to a 90-day deadline to declare the weapons used in the attacks, reveal its remaining stocks and comply with OPCW inspections. France in response submitted the motion calling for Syria to be punished.

Pressure mounted on Damascus last week after a second OPCW investigation found a Syrian helicopter dropped a chlorine bomb on the rebel-held town of Saraqib in 2018. OPCW Director General Fernando Arias said on Tuesday that Syria’s responses to questions about its chemical weapons still "cannot be considered accurate and complete" despite years of inspections.