Chemical weapons watchdog urges probe in Syria after al-Assad toppled 

The head of the international chemical weapons watchdog says he will ask Syria’s new leaders to grant investigators access to the country to work on identifying perpetrators of attacks that killed and injured thousands of people during the civil war.

Addressing a special session of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Thursday, Fernando Arias said his office had seen positive signals from Syria about the need to rid the country of chemical weapons but no formal request had been received.

The 41-member executive council of the OPCW met in The Hague to discuss next steps after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s sudden toppling.

Speaking before the meeting, the ambassador of the United States to the OPCW, Nicole Shampaine, said Washington viewed al-Assad’s fall as an extraordinary chance to rid Syria of chemical weapons.

“We want to finish the job, and it’s really an opportunity for Syria’s new leadership to work with the international community, work with the OPCW to get the job done once and for all,” Shampaine said.

Arias said the evolving political landscape in Syria offered an opportunity for the organisation to finally obtain clarifications on the full extent and scope of the Syrian chemical weapons programme after 11 years of inspections.

Warning of proliferation risks, he said, “Victims deserve that perpetrators that we identified be brought to justice” after the multiple use of chemical weapons during Syria’s 13-year war.

Arias will seek access for the OPCW’s Investigation and Identification Team. That unit and a joint United Nations-OPCW mechanism have already identified Syria’s armed forces as having used chemical weapons nine times from 2015 to 2017.

The culprits of many attacks remain unidentified.

‘Act with impunity’

Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 under a US-Russian deal and 1,300 metric tonnes of chemical weapons and precursors were destroyed by the international community. But after more than a decade of inspections, Syria still possesses banned munitions.

Al-Assad-ruled Syria and its military ally Russia always denied using chemical weapons during the war.

With Syria still in disorder with myriad armed groups around the shattered country, the OPCW seeks to act quickly to prevent any chemical weapons being used.

Echoing such concerns, Germany’s ambassador to the OPCW, Thomas Schieb, said: “Relevant storehouses and facilities need to be identified, secured and opened for inspection by the OPCW.”

“We will judge the new Syrian authorities by their action. Now is the opportunity to finally and verifiably destroy the remnants of al-Assad’s chemical weapons programme.”

Israeli strikes

Meanwhile, Israel has continued to pound Syria, striking ports and missile warehouses in Latakia and Tartous as their ground troops move deeper into a demilitarised area in the Syrian Golan Heights, in effect expanding their occupation of the area.

Israeli forces have launched more than 480 air strikes on Syrian sites since the fall of al-Assad on Sunday, continuing a campaign it began while the toppled leader was in power.

The spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is deeply concerned by “the recent and extensive violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

“The secretary-general is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli air strikes on several locations in Syria, stressing the need, the urgent need, to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country,” Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

Defending Israel’s actions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the strikes are to ensure that the Syrian army’s military equipment does not fall into the “wrong hands”.

Daniel Levy, a former Israeli negotiator and president of the US/Middle East Project, said Israel is taking advantage of the moment to “debilitate” any future Syrian authority “of its ability to defend itself”.

“I think the signal Israel thinks it’s sending is: ‘We’re here. We’re the regional policemen. … We can act with impunity,’” Levy told Al Jazeera.

The strikes were carried out as hundreds of people attended the funeral of slain Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada, whose body was recently found in Sednaya Prison, a facility outside Damascus that Amnesty International called a “human slaughterhouse”.

While it is thought that all detainees have been released, thousands remain unaccounted for.

Syria’s new administration has called on citizens to apply to join the police force, pledging to institute “rule of law” after years of abuses under al-Assad.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Vall, reporting from Damascus, said Syria’s new rulers have “enormous” tasks ahead.

Apart from political and security concerns, the country is facing an “economic mess”, he said.

“People can’t wait. This country is at rock bottom because of what’s going on in the economy,” Vall said.