Britain praises Syria's technical compliance with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Britain has praised Syria for its full commitment to destroying the remaining remnants of the former regime's chemical weapons program, calling on the international community to provide financial and logistical support to help close this file definitively.

The British government's website quoted Stephen Lillie, Director of Defense and International Security at the British Foreign Office, as saying in a statement at the 109th session of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague: "Syria has demonstrated its commitment to destroying the remaining remnants of the Assad regime's chemical weapons program and holding those responsible accountable," describing the Syrian government's cooperation with the organization's technical secretariat as "exemplary".

Lillie urged the international community to take swift steps to close the chemical weapons file in Syria, and to provide financial and logistical support for this. He pointed out that British Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced during his visit to Damascus earlier this month an additional financial assistance of two million pounds for the benefit of the missions of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in Syria, in addition to the 837,000 pounds transferred since last December.

UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu praised Syria last month for its full cooperation and transparency with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and its technical secretariat.