MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. Decision of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons [OPCW] to expand its mandate is fraught with highly deplorable aftermaths, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement quoted by SANA news agency.
"Giving the powers to hold independent investigations to the OPCW technical secretariat will paralyze the activity of this international organization because these powers do no match the tasks set forward for it," the statement said.
The motion creates a dangerous precedent for the entire structure of the international community, it said adding that Syria was expressing profound concern over the blackmail and threats, which the US, France and Britain use in order to push through a resolution on changing the mandate of the OPCW. This would politicize the organization and would enable it to trample on the sovereignty of independent countries under the guise of claims they had used chemical weapons, the Foreign Ministry said.
Damascus also voiced the confidence that all the lies and forged facts of chemical weapons utilization in Syria, standing behind which were the US, France, the UK, and Saudi Arabia, would be unmasked soon.
On Wednesday, the OPCW adopted a UK-sponsored draft proposal on changing its mandate. The changes will imply the acquisition of accusatory functions.
The documented rallied the support of 82 members, while another 24 members voted against it.
The expansion means the technical secretariat of the organization will devise a mechanism of identification of those who allegedly used chemical weapons in Syria. This should be done through an exposure of information on the origins of chemical substances - even in the situations where neither UN nor OPCW investigators drafted appropriate reports on presumed incidents.