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<p>We are concerned by the latest reports of an alleged Syrian regime chlorine attack
in Eastern Ghouta on 13 January. UK officials are in regular contact with the Organisation
for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), whose investigators are investigating
the allegations of chlorine use in Eastern Ghouta, alongside a number of other allegations
of chemical weapons use in Syria in the past year.</p><p>The OPCW-UN Joint Investigative
Mechanism has found that the Asad regime has used chemical weapons on four occasions,
and Daesh twice. The latest report from the OPCW Director General again states that
Syria's Declaration of its chemical weapons programme required under the Chemical
Weapons Convention remains incomplete, and that significant "gaps, inconsistencies
and discrepancies" have not been resolved.</p><p>The British Government has made
clear that it condemns the use of chemical weapons by anyone anywhere and that those
who use chemical weapons should be held to account. I discuss on a regular basis the
international community's response to the situation in Syria with international counterparts,
including foreign ministers from the US and the EU, and have raised the matter with
the Russian Foreign Minister. The UK continues to work closely with international
partners to bring those in Syria responsible for the most atrocious crimes to account.</p>
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