Global chemical arms body gains new powers

THE HAGUE: The international community Wednesday endowed the global chemical weapons watchdog with new powers to identify those behind toxic arms attacks in Syria, prompting an angry Russia to say it would not rule out leaving what it called a ‘sinking Titanic’.

After two days of tense talks and in face of stiff opposition from Moscow and Damascus, a British-led proposal to strengthen the mandate of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons ( OPCW) passed by 82 votes in favour with 24 against.

“The OPCW now has a crucial extra power, not just to identify the use of chemical weapons, but also to point the finger at the organisation, the state that they think is responsible,” said British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

Other delegates said applause broke out after the vote at the rare special session of the OPCW’s top policy-making body, called by London following recent repeated use of poison gases in Syria, Iraq as well as nerve agent attacks in Malaysia and Britain.

But Moscow, which along with Syria and Iran had vehemently opposed the move, shot back that the move was a sign the watchdog was on the brink of collapse.

Asked point blank if Russia, which joined the OPCW in 1997, would withdraw from the body, Shulgin said “all options are on the table,” adding that the watchdog, which has overseen the destruction of all its declared chemical weapons, had been ‘severely damaged’. — AFP