THE HAGUE: The downfall of Syria’s Bashar Assad, found to have used chemical weapons against his own people on multiple occasions during the civil war, creates an opportunity to rid the country of banned munitions, diplomatic sources said on Monday.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said it was following the situation in Syria with “special attention” to chemical weapons-related sites and had reminded Syria, through its embassy, of its continued obligation to declare and destroy all banned chemical weapons.
A team at OPCW has spent more than a decade trying to clarify what types of chemical weapons Syria still possesses, but has made little progress due to obstruction by Assad’s government, it said.
“To date, this work has continued, and the Syrian declaration of its chemical weapons program still cannot be considered as accurate and complete,” the OPCW statement said.
A diplomatic source said Assad’s government had been “playing cat and mouse with us for years” and that “we are convinced that they still had an ongoing program.”
“It costs millions and millions of dollars without making any progress,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. “So it really is a great opportunity now to get rid of (chemical weapons) for good. This is the moment.”
Security guarantees will need to be arranged before any deployment by OPCW inspectors. That would require contacting new power brokers in Syria, possibly militant forces in the alliance that toppled Assad, such as Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, a former Al-Qaeda affiliate labelled a terrorist group by some governments.
Past missions have not been free of risk. Members of a United Nations-OPCW mission to Syria were hit by explosives and AK-47 fire while trying to reach the site of a chemical attack in the northern town of Kafr Zita in May 2014.
Assad’s government and its Russian allies always denied using chemical weapons against opponents in the civil war, which erupted in March 2011.
Three different investigations — a joint UN-OPCW mechanism, the OPCW’s Investigation and Identification team, and a UN war crimes investigation — concluded that Syrian government forces used the nerve agent sarin and chlorine barrel bombs in attacks during the civil war that killed or injured thousands.
A French court issued an arrest warrant for Assad which was upheld on appeal over the use of banned chemical weapons against civilians.
Evidence
Syria declared 1,300 tons of banned chemical weapons after joining the OPCW in 2013. The weapons were destroyed by the international community, but weapons inspectors have since found evidence of an ongoing program that violated the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention overseen by the OPCW.
The OPCW has conducted 28 rounds of consultations with Assad’s government since 2013, but a list of unexplained inconsistencies has only grown.
A recent assessment said 19 outstanding issues included “potentially undeclared full-scale development and production of chemical weapons at two declared chemical weapons-related facilities,” OPCW chief Fernando Arias said in November.
“The facilities were previously declared as having never been in operation,” he said. But inspectors found evidence contradicting that claim, sources said.
Among thousands of victims of suspected chemical weapons attack were more than 1,000 killed in a sarin gas attack on Aug. 21, 2013 in the Damascus suburb Ghouta, and around 100 killed in an April 4, 2017 gas attack on the Khan Sheikhoun in northern Syria. The systematic use of chlorine barrel bombs has killed and injured hundreds more, the OPCW has found.
Assad’s fall brings ‘the moment’ to rid Syria of chemical weapons
https://arab.news/8cmu4
Assad’s fall brings ‘the moment’ to rid Syria of chemical weapons
- OPCW said it was following the situation in Syria with “special attention” to chemical weapons-related sites
- Organization reminded Syria, through its embassy, of its continued obligation to declare and destroy all banned chemical weapons
Aleppo Citadel is a witness to the city’s great history and legacy
- Parts of military fortress date back nearly 2 millennia
- Historian Abdullah Hajjar provides an extensive study
DAMASCUS: Towering above the old city, the Aleppo Citadel has stood for centuries as both a military stronghold and symbol of the location’s layered history.
After years of closure, neglect, and damage during the war, the Aleppo Citadel reopened to visitors on Sept. 27 following months of restoration.
The site has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage landmark since 1986.
Rising around 38 meters above its surroundings, the fortress has played a central role in Aleppo’s political, military, and urban development.
Surrounded by a deep defensive moat, the citadel reflects advanced military engineering.
According to historian Abdullah Hajjar in his book “Archaeological Landmarks of Aleppo,” first published in 2010, the moat was excavated and reinforced during the reign of Ayyubid ruler Al-Zahir Ghazi.
At times it was 22 meters deep and about 30 meters wide, and filled with water to strengthen defenses.
Parts of the citadel date back nearly two millennia.
The lower section of its main entrance originates from the third century A.D., while the upper additions were made in the 15th century. Most of the towers and walls were built or expanded between the 13th and 16th centuries.
The citadel has repeatedly been damaged and rebuilt over the centuries. It was destroyed by the Sassanids in 540 A.D., but later restored.
Inside its walls, the citadel contains mosques, military structures, and residential buildings, offering a rare glimpse into daily life within a medieval fortress.
Among its landmarks are the Ibrahim Al-Khalil Mosque, the Great Mosque, defensive towers, barracks, and several historic houses.
Archaeological excavations have uncovered remains from multiple eras. This includes a ninth-century B.C. temple, Roman and Byzantine sarcophagi, and water cisterns dating to the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian, who rebuilt Aleppo’s fortifications in the sixth century against Persian invaders.
The citadel flourished during the Mamluk period, when it was restored by Sultan Baybars after the 1260 Battle of Ain Jalut.
Later inscriptions document victories by Mamluk rulers over Crusader and Mongol forces.
Under Ottoman rule, following the Battle of Marj Dabiq in 1516, the fortress gradually lost its military role and became an administrative and residential site.
The book outlines the various stages of restoration of the Aleppo Citadel over the centuries.
It highlights that Al-Zahir Ghazi, son of Saladdine Ayyubi, excavated the moat, reinforced the entrance with three wrought-iron gates, and built a large mosque within the fortress.
Later, Al-Zahir Baybars restored the citadel after the Mongol invasion, and in 1417, Sultan Al-Mu’ayyad Shaykh repaired its walls following their destruction by Timur in 1401.
The Aleppo Citadel has also survived powerful earthquakes, including a devastating quake in 1138 and another in 1822, each followed by major restoration efforts led by regional rulers of the time.
Beyond the citadel itself, Hajjar’s research documents Aleppo’s wider architectural heritage, including historic bathhouses and caravanserais that once supported the city’s role as a major trade center.
