Report points to Syria having nerve gas

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Inspectors with a global agency to monitor for chemical weapons say they have discovered traces of what they believe to be a byproduct of a nerve agent or poison gas at a Syrian research facility.

Member states of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons voiced concern Tuesday that Syria may still possess such weapons.

In a report submitted to the organization’s executive council, the organization’s director-general said the traces were found late last year at Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center in Barzah.

Canada’s envoy to the organization, Sabine Nolke, said in a speech to the meeting that the discovery, and reports that Syria destroyed equipment and munitions that had been earmarked for further assessment, add to “growing evidence of deliberately false declarations by Syria, destruction of possible evidence, and the alarming likelihood that Syria continues to possess Schedule 1 chemicals.”

Schedule 1 chemicals include sarin, VX and sulfur mustard.

Syria is not a member of the organization’s 41-nation executive council, though it agreed in 2013 to join the organization and relinquish its chemical weapons stockpile. Its declared chemical weapons were destroyed in an international operation, but there have been repeated chemical attacks reported in the country in the years since.

The government in Damascus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.