Syrian Use Of Chemical Weapons Would Have “Dire Consequences”: UN Chief

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon has warned of the “dire consequences” if Syria were to turn to chemical weapons as a tool of warfare, a UN spokesman told reporters Tuesday.

“The secretary-general has been extremely clear about the use of such weapons, stressing it would have dire consequences for the population of Syria and the wider region,” Martin Nesirky, the spokesperson to the UN chief, said here at a daily briefing.

“It is incumbent on the Syrian authorities to ensure the safety and security of any such weapons,” he said.

According to the spokesperson, the UN chief had communicated in the past his concerns over the use of chemical weapons in writing to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Nesirky also noted that as a result of assessment, it was decided to reduce the number of international staff in light of the escalating violence in recent days.

However, he noted that the UN was still in Damascus, performing humanitarian operations as security conditions permit.

“The Office of the Joint Special Representative in Damascus is also maintaining its activities,” he added.

Responding to a question regarding contacts between Ban and Assad, Nesirky said the UN chief, the Joint Special Representative for Syria and others had contacts, if not directly with President Assad, with members of the senior leadership and government.

Nesirky said on Monday that the UN Department for Safety and Security had confirmed that the UN in Syria would pull out non- essential international personnel with immediate effect and that it would suspend its movements within the country until further notice.

Ban said in his remarks to the UN General Assembly on Friday that “a military solution will not bring an end to violence in Syria,” and that “a free and democratic Syria will require political dialogue and negotiations.”

“The United Nations will facilitate such a process,” uniting behind Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League Envoy for Syria, because “it is still possible to avert the worst and enable a Syria in peace to emerge from this crisis,” said the UN chief.

Xinhuanet