Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), el grupo rebelde que lidera la coalici\u00f3n que ahora tiene el poder en Damasco, quiere ayuda internacional para desmantelar de forma segura el programa clandestino de armas qu\u00edmicas del r\u00e9gimen.\u00a0El Director General de la OPAQ, Fernando Arias, solicit\u00f3 a las nuevas autoridades sirias se permita que la \u201cOPAQ erradique este programa criminal de una vez por todas\u201d.<\/p>\n
One of the most remarkable outcomes of the\u00a0toppling<\/a> of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria is that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the rebel group leading the coalition now in charge in Damascus, wants international help in safely dismantling the regime’s clandestine chemical weapons program.<\/p>\n In a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0issued December 7 on\u00a0X<\/em>, HTS called for international assistance in ridding the country of these deadly poisons. As the international community seeks to assist the forces that ousted Assad, responding to the HTS call for help on chemical weapons should be a high priority.<\/p>\n What is most astounding about the HTS statement is that it runs counter to conventional wisdom about terrorist groups’ interest in exotic weapons. HTS is designated a terrorist organization by the\u00a0United States<\/a>, the\u00a0U.N. Security Council<\/a>, the European Union, and Russia.<\/p>\n In its statement, HTS said the \u201cAssad regime has attacked the Syrian people with chemical weapons on dozens of occasions, causing the deaths of thousands\u2026\u201d It goes on to reassure the international community that it has \u201cno intention or desire to use chemical weapons or any weapons of mass destruction\u201d and that it will not allow chemical weapons \u201cto fall into irresponsible hands.\u201d<\/p>\n What is most astounding about the HTS statement is that it runs counter to conventional wisdom about terrorist groups’ interest in exotic weapons.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n The statement expresses a \u201creadiness to cooperate with the international community on all matters related to the monitoring of weapons and sensitive sites.\u201d It goes on to say that HTS \u201cwill not allow the tragedies experienced by Syria in the past to be repeated.\u201d<\/p>\n If this remarkable statement can be believed, it should be heralded as an important charge to uphold the international norm against chemical weapons. It stands in contrast to the intentions of other nonstate actors such as the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Tower bombing\u00a0Ramzi Yousef (PDF<\/abbr>)<\/a>\u00a0who said he would have released sodium cyanide gas if he could have, or Osama bin Ladin and\u00a0al Qaeda<\/a>\u00a0who made plans to deploy chemical and biological agents in Afghanistan, or the\u00a0Islamic State<\/a>\u00a0operatives who used low-grade mustard agent in attacks in\u00a0Marea<\/a>, Syria.<\/p>\n Rather than claiming religious justification to use any means available to kill others, HTS’s statement argues that it is because of their religious faith that they want to prevent the proliferation of any residual weapons stocks. The HTS statement said its commitment is \u201crooted in our faith and the teachings of our religion, which emphasizes the sanctity of life and compassion for humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the many attacks that may have influenced the rebels’ aversion to chemical weapons is the 2013 deployment by the regime of\u00a0Sarin nerve agent<\/a>\u00a0and chlorine that killed some 1,400 people in the Damascus suburb of\u00a0Ghouta<\/a>.<\/p>\n For a decade the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has worked to\u00a0fully account<\/a>\u00a0for the Assad regime’s chemical weapons. Despite joining the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 2013 after the Ghouta attack and allowing the international community to destroy 1,300 tons of chemical weapons and ingredients, the Assad regime\u00a0continued<\/a>\u00a0to use the widely available industrial chemicals chlorine, sulfur mustard, and sarin to attack opposition forces.<\/p>\n Syrian intelligence\u00a0intimidated victims<\/a>\u00a0so they would deny the attacks occurred then joined with Russian officials in\u00a0claiming<\/a>\u00a0the attacks were staged by opposition forces. Despite its involvement in the negotiation of the CWC and the destruction of its own chemical weapons stockpile in 2017, Russia supported the Assad regime in this fiction in international forums around the globe.<\/p>\n OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias (PDF<\/abbr>)<\/a>\u00a0recently requested the cooperation of the new Syrian authorities and the support of the international community to allow the \u201cOPCW to eradicate this criminal program once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n Getting OPCW Technical Secretariat personnel into Syria is difficult right now, given the country’s chaotic security environment. Israel’s strikes on Syrian military sites complicate this important international mission.<\/p>\n