THE HAGUE, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Syria on Monday deplored that "hostile states" have led international investigation to produce reports on the alleged uses of toxic chemical in Syria, charging that the reports "lack professionalism and reach wrong findings".
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad made this statement at the annual conference of members of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which opened in the Hague on Monday.
Mekdad reiterated Syria's denial of such accusations, saying the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) reports were "without any tangible evidence" and its work needs to be reviewed.
The FFM reported that people were exposed to chemical weapons in conflicts in Syria in recent years. The OPCW-U.N. Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) claimed that the Islamic State terrorists and the Syrian military were both involved in the use of chemicals as weapons.
He said that the JIM's work "was not professional and based solely on information provided by state parties suspected of having a close relationship with terrorist groups."
"It is truly laughable that some states parties are helping terrorist groups and avoiding to bring terrorists to accountability and they use the OPCW to their own aims," said the Syrian official.
The United States put a resolution to vote to renew the JIM with the same mandate for an additional year on Oct. 24, but Russia vetoed the resolution, arguing that there is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of the JIM.
Russia had criticized the JIM for falling short of the standards of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
About two weeks ago, the United Nations Security Council failed to pass the resolutions proposed by the United States and Japan on the renewal of the JIM mandate, as Russia, a permanent council member, vetoed.
China abstained, and Wu Haitao, the charge d'affaires at China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, said, "China is firmly opposed to the use of chemical weapons by whichever country, organization or person for whatever purposes and under whatever circumstances."
Wu also said that any Security Council action must focus on the overall political process in Syria, which faces important opportunities at the moment.
It is imperative for parties to keep calm and exercise restraint and find an appropriate solution acceptable to all through patient consultation, Wu said, noting that there are still significant differences among members over JIM.
The Security Council unanimously approved the JIM in 2015 and renewed its mandate for another year in 2016. The current term expired on Nov. 17, 2017.
The United States recently has proposed extension of the JIM's mandate for another year.
Before Mekdad delivered his speech, Jacek Bylica, special envoy for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament at the EU External Action, on behalf of the European Union (EU) called on Syria "to engage meaningfully with the OPCW to resolve outstanding concerns".
"The EU is deeply concerned about state and non-state actors acquiring chemical weapons which has already become a dark reality in Syria and Iraq," said Bylica.
"It is unacceptable that four years after joining the Convention Syria's declaration can still not be verified as accurate and complete," he added.
Syria became a state party to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 2013. Syria submitted its initial declaration of chemical weapon stocks in September 2013.
Syria is working with the OPCW in reviewing the declaration by providing further explanations and supplementary information about its chemical weapon stocks, he stated.
"We have achieved further progress and we will continue cooperating ... in order to make our declaration accurate and complete."
Though almost all declared chemical weapons have been either destroyed or converted for peaceful use, risks of use of chemical weapons remain due to re-emerging uses of such weapons and the threat of chemical terrorism, warned the OPCW as its annual conference opened.
On Thursday, the five-day conference will appoint Ambassador Fernando Arias of Spain as the new Director-General of the Technical Secretariat of the OPCW. Arias will start his four year term on July 25, 2018.
