The UN disarmament chief reported the discovery of an undeclared chemical warfare agent at a Syrian site to a Security Council meeting Thursday where the United States and its Western allies clashed with Russia over international findings that Syria has used chemical weapons.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Izumi Nakamitsu didn't name the agent detected in samples by the international chemical weapons watchdog, but said its presence "inside storage containers of large volume at a previously declared chemical weapons facility may imply undeclared production activities."
Nakamitsu told the council that Syria also reiterated recently that a former chemical production facility was never used to produce or weaponize chemical weapons. The OPCW had said information and materials gathered there since 2014 indicated "that production and/or weaponization of chemical warfare nerve agents did, in fact, take place at this facility."
Nakamitsu, the UN high representative for disarmament affairs, said the OPCW rejected Syria's latest denial and still maintains that the Assad government must declare all chemical warfare agents produced at the site.
She said the unadulterated chemical warfare agent found at the declared site is being added to the OPCW's list of outstanding issues, whose number and nature "is concerning." She again called on Syria to fully cooperate with OPCW technical experts to resolve them.
