The State of Qatar stressed its firm policy aimed at eliminating all weapons of mass destruction and banning their possession, expressing full support to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction stemming from Qatar's belief of its importance and the serious risks posed by chemical weapons, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.

This came in a speech of the State of Qatar delivered by Brigadier (Air) Hassan Saleh Al Nesf (photo), Deputy Chairman of the National Committee on Arms Embargo, before the 81st Session of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in La Hague.

Brigadier Al Nesf said the State of Qatar has been since its accession to membership of the Executive Board determined to participate actively and effectively in the Council's deliberations, work to achieve the objectives of the Convention and support OPCW in its quest to cope with global developments in order to enhance their contribution to international peace and security.

The State of Qatar emphasizes that the complete destruction of chemical weapons is one of the main pillars of the Convention, he said, noting that the completion of chemical weapons destruction in accordance with the plans of destruction provided by the concerned countries, including the abandoned chemical weapons on the territory of other States, is an integral part of the obligations all States possessing chemical weapons and States parties abandoning them.

The State of Qatar praised OPCW's efforts with regard to the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons program for both chemicals or production facilities, accompanied by verification and surveillance systems, expressing support for its ongoing investigations on the use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, especially those led by fact-finding mission to reach the truth despite the grave risks it has faced, he went on saying.

Brigadier Al Nesf expressed concern about the dismantling program of Syria’s chemical weapons, in particular gaps and inconsistencies contained in the Syrian announcements.

He stressed the need to take a clear position on this report, urging the Executive Council to send a clear and urgent message to Syria in which it asks for a full and accurate declaration, especially that the report pointed to the existence of many of the outstanding issues and that the Technical Secretariat is incapable of full surveillance of Syrian announcements.