{"id":116280,"date":"2021-03-05T15:30:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T07:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=116280"},"modified":"2021-03-05T15:30:28","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T07:30:28","slug":"us-at-un-accuses-russia-of-blocking-accountability-on-syria-chem-weapons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=116280","title":{"rendered":"US, at UN, accuses Russia of blocking \u2018accountability\u2019 on Syria chem weapons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bssnews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/US-at-UN-accuses-Russia-of-blocking-accountability-on-Syria-chem-weapons.jpg\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.bssnews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/US-at-UN-accuses-Russia-of-blocking-accountability-on-Syria-chem-weapons.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>UNITED NATIONS, March 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) &#8212; The new US envoy to the United Nations accused Russia of seeking to stymie efforts to hold the government of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad accountable for its use of chemical weapons during its long civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe all know the Assad regime has repeatedly used chemical weapons. So why hasn\u2019t the Syrian government been held accountable?\u201d the ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told a Security Council meeting via videoconference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe answer is sadly simple: the Assad regime has tried to avoid accountability by obstructing independent investigations and undermining the role and work\u201d of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd the regime\u2019s allies, in particular Russia, have also sought to block all efforts to pursue accountability,\u201d added the US diplomat, who was participating in her first Security Council meeting since taking over as President Joe Biden\u2019s envoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRussia has defended the Assad regime despite its chemical weapons attacks, it has attacked the professional work of the OPCW, and it has undermined efforts to hold the Assad regime accountable for its use of chemical weapons and numerous other atrocities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moscow\u2019s UN envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, defended Damascus, saying: \u201cOn Russia\u2019s advice, Syria has abided by the OPCW in good faith, and has gotten rid of its chemical weapons arsenal\u201d \u2014 a claim greeted with skepticism in the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also mocked Thomas-Greenfield, who holds the council\u2019s rotating presidency for March, for being a bit wordy in what was meant to be a \u201cbrief\u201d intervention to start the proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe all always try to be brief, but it\u2019s not always possible,\u201d he said before launching into what he called \u201ca brief and useful historical recap on Council deliberations\u201d \u2014 seemingly chiding Thomas-Greenfield for being a newbie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the United Nations, which has accused Assad\u2019s regime of carrying out chemical attacks against its own citizens in the past, Damascus has for years not replied to a series of 19 questions about its weapons installations, which could have been used to stock or produce chemical weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>OPCW investigators have accused Assad\u2019s regime of sarin gas and chlorine attacks in Syria in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Syria\u2019s UN envoy Bassam Sabbagh refuted the US accusation, insisting Damascus was in compliance with international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSyria rejects this hostile and politicized argument,\u201d he said. &#8212; NNN-AGENCIES<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UNITED NATIONS, March 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) &#8212; The new US envoy to the United Nations accused Russia of seeking to stymie efforts to hold the government of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad accountable for its use of chemical weapons during its long civil war. \u201cWe all know the Assad regime has repeatedly used chemical weapons. So why [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":116282,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[208,209,217],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116280"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=116280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/116282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=116280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=116280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=116280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}