Statement by Minister Nicholson Condemning Syria's Continued Use of Chemical Weapons

Statement

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**March 26, 2015 -** The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement:

“Canada calls on Syria to immediately allow and provide security to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ Fact-Finding Mission in Syria to undertake an urgent investigation in order to establish the facts surrounding Syria’s apparent use of toxic chemicals for hostile purposes.

“President Bashar al-Assad’s brutal actions against his own citizens have resulted in a downward spiral of violence and extremism and a humanitarian crisis of appalling dimensions—and created the fertile conditions for the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to grow. Canada condemns in the strongest terms the Assad regime’s continued assaults on citizens. As we work with allies to degrade and destroy ISIL’s capacity to threaten the region, we remain determined that the Assad regime will also be held to account for its crimes against the people of Syria.

“Canada recently co-sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 2209, which not only condemned in the strongest possible terms any use of any toxic chemical as a weapon but also recalled that non-compliance would lead to measures under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. The latest attacks, if confirmed, would constitute a serious violation that merits consideration.”