OPCW Fact-Finding Mission in Syria

The OPCW Fact-Finding Mission in Syria is a mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate some possible cases of the use of toxic chemicals in Syria during the civil war, including chlorine. The 21 August 2013 Ghouta chemical attack used sarin.^[1] The OPCW-Director General Ahmet Üzümcü announced the creation of the mission on 29 April 2014. This initial mission was headed by Malik Ellahi.^[2] The Syrian Government agreed to the Mission.^[3]

The Mission took over the work of the OPCW-UN Joint Mission in Syria, which had been formed to oversee the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons program, and which ended its activities on 30 September 2014.^[4] On 4 September 2014, the head of the Joint Mission reported to the UN Security Council that 96% of Syria's declared stockpile, including the most dangerous chemicals, had been destroyed and preparation were underway to destroy the remaining 12 production facilities, a task to be completed by the OPCW Mission.^[5] On 4 January 2015, the OPCW stated that destruction was completed, though since then previously undeclared traces of compounds in a Syrian government military research site have been reported.^{[citation needed]}