Al-Moallem expresses appreciation to Kaag for success of OPCW-UN mission

Damascus, SANA – Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem met Head of the joint mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations Sigrid Kaag and the accompanying delegation.

The meeting came as part of Kaag’s final visit to Syria since the joint mission, which deals with eliminating the chemical weapons in Syria, is winding up its work and will be concluded by the end of September.

Talks during the meeting touched upon the achievements made in terms of Syria implementing its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which Syria joined in September of 2013.

Minister al-Moallem expressed his deep appreciation and thanks to Kaag for the efforts she and her team put to have the mission of the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons accomplished.

For her part, Kaag said she was pleased with the achievements made and voiced her gratitude for the Syrian government’s “constructive” and “fruitful” cooperation which led to those achievements.

She described the accomplishment of the mission as “unprecedented” achievement, which she said would not have succeeded without the Syrian authorities’ cooperation with the joint OPCW-UN mission.

Kaag stressed that in light of this achievement, the Syrian state must be viewed as a member state in the CWC.

Haifa Said