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Assad to allow access but fears action by rebels
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Syrian President Bashar Assad says his government will allow international experts access to its chemical weapons sites, but cautioned in an interview broadcast yesterday that rebels might block them from reaching some locations.
Assad’s comments came as world leaders gathered in New York for the annual UN General Assembly at which the use of chemical weapons in Syria was high on the agenda.
Assad told China Central Television that Damascus was dedicated to implementing a Russia-US agreement to surrender its chemical weapons to international control. According to the accord, inspectors are to be on the ground in Syria by November and all components of the chemical weapons program are to be removed from the country or destroyed by the middle of next year.
Assad said the government won’t have any problem taking experts to weapons sites but some might be difficult to reach because of ongoing fighting.
“I’m referring to places where gunmen exist. Those gunmen might want to stop the experts’ arrival,” Assad told CCTV in the interview filmed in Damascus on Sunday.
“We know that these terrorists are obeying the orders of other countries and these countries do drive these terrorists to commit acts that could get the Syrian government blamed for hindering this agreement,” he said.
Asked whether Syria had a lot of chemical weapons, Assad said: “Syria has been manufacturing chemical weapons for decades so it’s normal for there to be large quantities in the country.” But production stopped at least 15 years ago.
“In the 1980s, when we started production there was a gulf in terms of conventional weapons between Syria and Israel, the enemy occupying our territory,” he said. “In the second half of the 1990s, Syria stopped producing these weapons because the gap had been partially bridged.”
The chemical weapons were “in a safe place that is secure and under the control of the Syrian army,” he said.
Damascus met a first deadline under the agreement last week submitting the full list of its chemical weapons and production facilities to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Separately, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon China is willing to send experts to help in the chemical weapons destruction process.
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