Category Archives: Chemical weapons

Inquiry strikes blow to Russian denials of Syria chemical attack

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UN watchdog’s investigation rebuts claims it manipulated evidence of Douma incident

A Russia-led campaign that claimed the UN weapons watchdog had manipulated evidence of a Syrian government chemical weapons attack has been dealt a blow by an official inquiry showing that two former employees hailed as whistleblowers had little direct access to the evidence and inflated their role.

The independent inquiry commissioned by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) shows that one of the two had never been on the team investigating the April 2018 attack in Douma and the other was only on the team for a brief period.

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Ilhan Omar writes to US Syria envoy over Turkish white phosphorus allegations

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Congresswoman calls on US Syria envoy to give full briefing on October incident in border town

Four US congressional Democrats have written to Donald Trump’s Syria envoy asking him to spell out what information the US has about the alleged use of white phosphorus by Turkey against Syrian Kurdish civilians in October.

Ilhan Omar and three of her colleagues in the House of Representatives called on Jim Jeffrey to provide a full briefing – in private if necessary – into whether it believes the incident during the Turkish invasion two months ago amounts to a war crime.

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Chemical weapons watchdog defends Syria report after leaks

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Whistleblower claims OPCW’s findings misrepresented some facts over 2018 chlorine attack

The head of the world’s chemical weapons watchdog has defended its conclusion that chlorine was used in an attack in Syria in April 2018, after a whistleblower alleged the report misrepresented some of the facts amid Russian claims that the watchdog is being politicised by the west.

WikiLeaks at the weekend published an email from a member of the fact-finding team that investigated the attack which accused the body of altering the original findings of investigators to make evidence of a chemical attack seem more conclusive.

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UN investigates alleged use of white phosphorus in Syria

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Kurdish Red Crescent says six people, some civilians, in hospital with mysterious burns

UN chemical weapons inspectors have announced they are gathering information following accusations that burning white phosphorus was used by Turkish forces against children in Syria earlier this week.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said on Friday morning that “it was aware of the situation and is collecting information with regard to possible use of chemical weapons”.

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Assad regime used chlorine as a chemical weapon, says US

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Chlorine use in May marks first confirmed violation of ban since Trump authorized airstrikes in 2018 over Syria’s use of poison gas

The United States has concluded that the government of Bashar al-Assad used chlorine as a chemical weapon in May, marking the first confirmed violation of the ban on chemical weapons since Donald Trump authorized airstrikes in 2018 over Syria’s use of poison gas.

“The Assad regime is responsible for innumerable atrocities some of which rise to the level of war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, told a news conference in New York, where he has been attending the UN general assembly.

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Some US troops could remain in Syria, Trump official says

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  • Trump made controversial decision to withdraw US troops
  • John Bolton to discuss pullout with Netanyahu and Erdogan

The US could leave some troops at a key military outpost in southern Syria, a Trump administration official told reporters on Saturday, despite the president’s controversial decision to withdraw all troops from the war-racked country.

Related: Trump slows Syria pullout but claims 'hero' status

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