GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Sept 6, CMC – The 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping Friday condemned the use of chemical weapons in the ongoing civil war in Syria and urged the global community not to engage in military force to deal with the situation.
In a statement, the Guyana based CARICOM Secretariat said that the regional grouping is “closely monitoring the rapidly evolving development” in Syria, including the recent “alarming allegations regarding the use of chemical weapons in that country and said to have resulted in the deaths of over 1000 persons including a large number of children.
“CARICOM condemns unreservedly the use of chemical weapons which is a gross contravention of international law including the 1925 Geneva Protocol and the United Nations Chemical Weapons Convention. It also expresses its abhorrence of any such atrocity which would add a horrific dimension to an already brutal and bloody civil war.”
Earlier this week, leading regional academic, Professor Brian Meeks, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that it was important for the region to adopt a common position as it regards the ongoing situation in Syria.
He said his own view is that the Caribbean countries “should stick close to the United Nations and the positions taken by the United Nations.
“We should look after our own business, but we should also strongly oppose positions that encourage the notion of a warring policeman with arbitrary powers.
“What if you get it wrong as in the case of Iraq not very long ago in which there was suppose to weapons of mass destruction which were nonexistent? That is the danger and I think our governments should consider this and act together”.
The United States has said it had irrefutable evidence that the chemical weapons were used by the Bashar al-Assad administration resulting in the deaths of nearly, 1500 people including more than 400 children last month.
The Obama administration has promised to military retaliation and is awaiting support from the US Congress for its impending action.
