TODAY’S MESOP SYRIA FLASH : THE REGIME ITSELF IS TOXIC

23-5-2014 – Reuters on Thursday flatly assessed that “Syria has made no progress in relinquishing a last batch of chemical weapons [CWs],” noting that the Bashar al-Assad regime is using claims of nearby fighting to excuse the “increasingly likely” scenario under which it would fail to meet a final deadline set for it to dismantle its CWs.

Recent months have seen consistent statements and analysis suggesting that Damascus would fall short of meeting the terms of a September 2013 agreement – under which Syria ascended to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and committed to handing over parts of its nonconventional arsenal in exchange for the West standing down from impending military strikes – even before Damascus began publicly declaring that the failure was linked to the proximity of rebel forces. The news comes amid reports that Syria is also violating the terms of the agreement by ignoring CWC prohibitions against the battlefield deployment of chlorine-based CWs. Reuters reported on Tuesday that a rebel-held village had been bombed by Assad-loyal forces, and that part of the bombardment had included chlorine bombs which killed at least one teenager. The wire noted that the attack was “the sixth alleged poison gas attack [in Kfar Zeita] in two months.” The Guardian noted Thursday that efforts to hold the regime accountable via multilateral institutions were showing little progress. Most specifically, the outlet reported that Russia and China had vetoed a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution that would have referred Syria to the International Criminal Court. Guardian Middle East Editor Ian Black juxtaposed a statement by Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin – that the vote was a “publicity stunt” – with the manifest fact that there “no peace negotiations are currently taking place.”