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Conflict in Syria

OPCW Executive Council to hold meeting on Syria on April 16

The OPCW Executive Council will hold a special meeting on April 16 to discuss the Syria situation

THE HAGUE, April 11. /TASS/. The Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will hold a special meeting on April 16 to discuss the Syria situation, Russia’s OPCW Permanent Mission announced on Wednesday.

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Lavrov: Russia ready to provide security guarantees to OPCW experts in Syria’s Douma

"A session of the Executive Council on Syria will be held next Monday," the Permanent Mission said on Tweeter.

"It is time to give up belligerent speeches, which we hear from some capitals, and return to settling the situation diplomatically," the mission said.

The OPCW confirmed the information on holding the meeting. As the Organization’s documents indicate, the meeting will discuss the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.

On April 7, a number of NGOs, including the White Helmets, alleged that chemical weapons were used in Douma, Eastern Ghouta. According to the statement published on the organization’s website on April 8, chlorine bombs had been dropped on the city, killing dozens and poisoning many locals who had to be brought to the hospital. The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed that report as fake news. The Defense Ministry added that the White Helmets were notorious for spreading falsehoods.

Representatives of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the Warring Sides held a probe in Douma on April 9 but found no traces of chemical weapons use. On April 10, Damascus sent an official invitation to the OPCW to visit Eastern Ghouta.

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