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Watchdog says dozens of Assad-era chemical weapons found in Syria in recent weeks

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dozens of previously undeclared chemical bombs and rockets left over from when then-President Bashar Assad ruled Syria have been found in the country in the past few weeks, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in a report Wednesday.

The OPCW, the global chemical weapons watchdog based in The Hague, said in its May report that its inspectors were able to inspect “high-priority undeclared locations” since the start of month. “Dozens of undeclared chemical munitions such as aerial bombs and rockets … have been found at several of these undeclared locations,” the report said.

When Syria joined the OPCW in 2013, it claimed chemical weapons were present at 26 locations in the country, but the watchdog has said it has reason to believe the country has an additional 100 sites.

Following the overthrow of Assad in December 2024, the government under interim-President Ahmad al-Sharaa has pledged to destroy any remaining chemical weapons from the Assad regime.

While speaking to the OPCW in The Hague last year, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani asked for help from the international community in ridding his country of the illegal munitions.

Syria’s new rulers have committed to “destroy any remains of the chemical weapons program developed under the Assad regime, to put an end to this painful legacy, to bring justice to victims, and to ensure that the compliance with international law is a solid one,” he said.

Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 to ward off the threat of airstrikes in response to a chemical attack on the outskirts of Damascus. Assad’s government denied using chemical weapons, but the OPCW previously has said that it found evidence of their repeated use by Syria in the grinding civil war.

The organization also has found that the Islamic State group used chemical weapons during the war.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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