[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Government of Guyana on Monday, September 16 said that it welcomed the agreement between the United States of America and Russia which has averted a humanitarian disaster had an attack on Syria been launched.
“The Government also welcomes the fact that under the USA-Russia Framework for the Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons, chemical weapons would be fully dismantled. Guyana is firmly of the view that weapons such as these should never be used again in any kind of conflict and urges that all countries with chemical and other weapons of mass destruction commit to a total and absolute ban of their construction, stockpiling and use,” the Foreign Ministry said in a short statement.
The statement noted that the decision of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic to accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention is also a critical and welcome step.
“Guyana continues to believe that in the struggle for peace and justice in our world, the role of the United Nations must remain a central one” it added.
Guyana also issued a call for the immediate commencement of talks among all the Parties concerned towards achieving a political end to the conflict in Syria.
The United Nations team probing the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria handed over their report on Monday to Secretary General Ban-ki-Moon and said it has found “clear and convincing evidence” that Sarin gas was used in an incident that occurred on August 21 in the Ghouta area on the outskirts of Damascus in which hundreds of people were reportedly killed.
“The report makes for chilling reading,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters following a closed-door briefing to the Security Council on the team’s work, which concludes that on the basis of evidence obtained during its investigation, “chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in [Syria], also against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale.”
The team, led by Swedish scientist Dr. Åke Sellström, also concludes in particular that the environmental, chemical and medical samples collected provide “clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-air rockets containing the nerve agent Sarin were used in Ein Tarma, Moadamiyah, and Zamalka, in the Ghouta area of Damascus.”
