Australia strengthens sanctions over Syria’s chemical weapons program

Australia has imposed more sanctions against people and groups it says is connected to Syria's chemical weapons program.

Syria chemical attack

A survivor of the Assad regime's suspected chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun town of Idlib district, Syria on April 05, 2017. Source: Anadolu

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has slapped sanctions on an extra 40 people and 14 groups linked to Syria's chemical weapons program.

"We urge the Syrian regime to fully comply with its 2013 commitment to dismantle and destroy its chemical weapons program," according to a statement released by Ms Bishop's office.

"The Australian Government strongly condemns the use of chemical weapons by any party to the Syrian conflict and urges the international community to work together to end this horrific conflict."

Australia's sanctions on a total of 142 people and 42 groups include companies and officials connected to Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Centre, the organisation responsible for developing and producing chemical and biological weapons.

The UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have confirmed that the Syrian military has used chemical weapons on several occasions.
In April, a chemical weapon attack that killed more than 80 people in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in northwestern Syria prompted the US to launch a missile strike against the Shayrat Airfield near the city of Homs in the west of the country.

Syrian State News Agency (SANA) reported nine civilians, including four children, were killed in the US attack.

-With AAP

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Published 24 August 2017 3:22pm
Updated 24 August 2017 6:18pm
By Andrea Booth


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