Syria seeks to join anti-chemical weapons pact

Syria said Friday it had requested to join the International Partnership Against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons, making the announcement with France on the anniversary of a 2013 chemical attack near Damascus.

France welcomed the request as "a clear demonstration of Syria's commitment to strengthening accountability and justice and combating impunity" after the country's more than decade-long civil war.

The partnership was launched by Paris in January 2018 and includes dozens of countries.

In August 2013, the Syrian army under Bashar al-Assad was accused of using chemical weapons against areas then under rebel control. US intelligence and rights groups said more than 1,400 men, women and children died. Assad's government denied responsibility but agreed to hand over its chemical arsenal to avert US strikes.

A United Nations report later said there was clear evidence that sarin gas had been used. Syria joined the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and agreed to disclose and hand over its toxic stockpile under Russian and US pressure. The OPCW later blamed Assad's forces for other chemical attacks during the civil war.

Assad was ousted in 2024 by Islamist-led rebels headed by now President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani called the 2013 attack "one of the most painful chapters in Syria's history" and said Syria had started technical and logistical procedures for disposal in cooperation with international partners. He also vowed to pursue those involved in the attack.

Several Syrian officers linked to the attack have been arrested since Assad's fall. The OPCW reinstated Syria last month, five years after stripping it of voting rights.