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STORY: UN / SYRIA CHEMICAL WEAPONS
TRT: 03:54
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 10 MARCH 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
10 MARCH 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Adedeji Ebo at the Council dais
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Adedeji Ebo, Director and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament
Affairs:
“The OPCW and the Syrian Arab Republic have continued to engage on how to eliminate any remnants of the chemical weapons programme developed by the previous government. As previously reported, since 2014, the OPCW Technical Secretariat has not been able to confirm that the declaration submitted by the previous government was accurate and complete.”
5. Med shot, Ebo at the Council dais
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Adedeji Ebo, Director and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament
Affairs:
“In addition to the 26 declared chemical weapons-related sites, information made available to the OPCW suggests that there are more than 100 other sites that may have been involved in the previous government’s chemical-weapons related activities. As part of its work on this matter, the OPCW Technical Secretariat plans to visit all these locations.”
7. Med shot, Ebo at the Council dais
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Adedeji Ebo, Director and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament
Affairs:
“The new Government of Syria has been working with the OPCW Technical Secretariat to obtain clarifications on the full extent and scope of the programme developed by the previous Government and to ensure Syria’s long-term compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention.”
9. Med shot, Ebo at the Council dais
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Adedeji Ebo, Director and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament
Affairs:
“I once again urge the members of this Council to unite and show leadership in providing the support that this unprecedented effort will require. The United Nations stands ready to support and will continue to do our part to uphold the norm against the use of chemical weapons – anywhere and at any time.”
11. Wide shot, Syrian Ambassador Ibrahim Olabi at the Council dais
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ibrahim Olabi, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Syrian Arab Republic:
“Syria views the elimination of any possible remnants of the previous chemical program as a national responsibility, one that serves to safeguard the security and safety of all Syrians, first and foremost, and to enhance the security and stability of the region.”
13. Wide shot, Council
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ibrahim Olabi, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Syrian Arab Republic:
“In keeping with the principles of transparency and openness, the Syrian National Authority acted immediately when units of the Ministry of Defence discovered 75 old empty cylinders suspected of having once contained toxic chemical substances at an abandoned military site. The authority took initiative and promptly informed the Technical Secretariat, expressed its readiness to provide all necessary facilitation for handling these cylinders, and clarified that it had already reported the existence of these empty, abandoned cylinders as part of its National Declaration.”
15. Wide shot, Council
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ibrahim Olabi, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Syrian Arab Republic:
“The chemical weapons file, which long preoccupied the world and this Council and sparked widespread outrage and condemnation over the crimes committed against the Syrian people. This file, which once stood as a symbol of global shock, has today ceased to be the epitome of a tragedy.”
17. Wide shot, end of Council session
The Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Adedeji Ebo, today (10 Mar) told the Security Council that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the Syrian Arab Republic “have continued to engage on how to eliminate any remnants of the chemical weapons programme developed by the previous government.”
Addressing a Council meeting on the implementation of resolution 2118 on Syria’s chemical weapons programme, Ebo recalled that “since 2014, the OPCW Technical Secretariat has not been able to confirm that the declaration submitted by the previous government was accurate and complete.”
He said, “in addition to the 26 declared chemical weapons-related sites, information made available to the OPCW suggests that there are more than 100 other sites that may have been involved in the previous government’s chemical-weapons related activities. As part of its work on this matter, the OPCW Technical Secretariat plans to visit all these locations.”
Ebo said the new Government of Syria “has been working with the OPCW Technical Secretariat to obtain clarifications on the full extent and scope of the programme developed by the previous Government and to ensure Syria’s long-term compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention.”
He urged Council members “to unite and show leadership in providing the support that this unprecedented effort will require” and added that the United Nations “stands ready to support and will continue to do our part to uphold the norm against the use of chemical weapons – anywhere and at any time.”
Syrian Ambassador Ibrahim Olabi told the Council that “Syria views the elimination of any possible remnants of the previous chemical program as a national responsibility, one that serves to safeguard the security and safety of all Syrians, first and foremost, and to enhance the security and stability of the region.”
Olabi said, “in keeping with the principles of transparency and openness, the Syrian National Authority acted immediately when units of the Ministry of Defence discovered 75 old empty cylinders suspected of having once contained toxic chemical substances at an abandoned military site.”
He said, “the authority took initiative and promptly informed the Technical Secretariat, expressed its readiness to provide all necessary facilitation for handling these cylinders, and clarified that it had already reported the existence of these empty, abandoned cylinders as part of its National Declaration.”
The Syrian Ambassador said, “the chemical weapons file, which long preoccupied the world and this Council and sparked widespread outrage and condemnation over the crimes committed against the Syrian people. This file, which once stood as a symbol of global shock, has today ceased to be the epitome of a tragedy.”
The OPCW found that at least two locations may be declarable under the Chemical Weapons Convention, though further visits are currently on hold due to the security situation in the region.
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