Syria Now Full Member Of Chemical Weapons Pact, Country's UN Envoy Says

Envoy: Syria Now Full Member Of Chemical Weapons Pact
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Ja'afari speaks to reporters outside the Security Council following the introduction of a draft resolution calling for U.N. authority to protect Syrian civilians on August 28, 2013 in New York City. The United Kingdom introduced the proposed resolution following a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria by the Assad regime. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Ja'afari speaks to reporters outside the Security Council following the introduction of a draft resolution calling for U.N. authority to protect Syrian civilians on August 28, 2013 in New York City. The United Kingdom introduced the proposed resolution following a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria by the Assad regime. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Syria became a full member of the global anti-chemical weapons treaty on Thursday, the country's U.N. envoy said, a move that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had promised as part of a deal to avoid U.S. air strikes.

"Legally speaking Syria has become, starting today, a full member of the (chemical weapons) convention," Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari told reporters in New York after submitting relevant documents to the United Nations.

Syria was one of only seven countries not to have joined the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, which commits members to completely destroying their stockpiles.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Eric Beech)

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot