US blasts Syria chairing world disarmament body

GENEVA: The US ambassador to the UN in Geneva said Tuesday it was “a travesty” that Syria would head the Conference on Disarmament, leaving briefly when the Syrian representative took the floor.

“Syria’s presence here is a travesty. This regime has committed countless crimes against its own people through the use of chemical weapons, and it is just unacceptable for them to be leading this body,” Robert Wood told Agence France-Presse just before the session began.

“They don’t have the moral authority or the credibility to preside over this body, and we are going to make very clear during their

it abhorrent,” he added.

Syria on Monday took over the rotating presidency of Conference on Disarmament (CD), according to a decades-old practice among the body’s 65 members following the alphabetical order of country names in English.

of Syria’s presidency on Tuesday, the United States led a number of diplomats in protest.

Syria’s ambassador Hussam Edin Aala opened the session, before returning to voice Washington’s

“Today marks a sad and shameful day in the history of this body,” he told the assembly.

“Let me be clear: we cannot permit ‘business as usual’ in the CD while Syria presides over this body,” he said.

“During the next four weeks, we will be present in this hall to ensure that Syria is not able to advance initiatives that run counter to the interests of the United States, but we will fundamentally alter the nature of our presence in the plenaries,” he said.

Following his statement, Wood moved in protest to a seat usually reserved for assistants.