Secretary-General, Marking Closure of Mission to Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons,

Thanks All Who Contributed to Effort

 

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

In connection with the closure of the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations on 30 September, the Secretary-General would like to express his deep gratitude to the Special Coordinator, Sigrid Kaag, as well as all the staff members from both the United Nations and OPCW, who have worked under difficult and often dangerous conditions to complete the elimination of the declared chemical weapons programme of the Syrian Arab Republic.  The Joint Mission has successfully conducted its work over the past 12 months under extremely challenging and complex circumstances.

The Secretary-General would also like to express his appreciation to the large number of Member States and organizations that had mobilized and contributed significant financial and in-kind contributions to support the work of the Joint Mission.  The Secretary-General would like to take this opportunity to stress the need for a world free of chemical weapons and reiterates his call upon those States that have not done so to accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

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For information media • not an official record