Syria on Friday said it had requested to join the International Partnership Against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons on the anniversary of a 2013 chemical attack on a suburb of the capital Damascus.
In a joint statement with France, Syria announced its bid to join the partnership of dozens of countries, launched by Paris in January 2018 a day after reports of another chemical weapons attack in an area held by rebels fighting against former ruler Bashar al-Assad. More than 1,400 men, women and children died as a result, according to US intelligence and rights groups.
With Syria at the height of its civil war, the Assad government denied responsibility, but agreed to hand over its chemical arsenal in order to avert US strikes. Assad went on to remain in power for more than a decade, only to be ousted in 2024 by Islamist-led rebels, headed by now President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
A United Nations report later said there was clear evidence sarin gas had been used. Marking 13 years since the attack, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani called it “one of the most painful chapters in Syria’s history”.
