THE world chemical weapons watchdog has asked Syria to sign up to a convention banning their use, expressing "serious concerns" that for the first time in the agreement's history they might be used.
The announcement by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) came amid speculation that Syria is considering using chemical weapons in its war with rebel forces.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said on Friday any such move would be an "outrageous crime". On Monday, US President Barack Obama warned Assad of "consequences" if he used chemical weapons against his people.
"For the first time in the history of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force in April 1997, there are serious concerns that chemical weapons might be used," OPCW director general Ahmet Uzumcu said in a statement.
Uzumcu said he had written to Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem "urging his government to accede to the convention without delay".
The Hague-based OPCW has in the past repeatedly asked Damascus to sign up to the convention, but to no avail.
"Syria has an opportunity to assure the international community that it repudiates chemical weapons by agreeing to join the Chemical Weapons Convention," Uzumcu said.
Signatories of the convention grant the OPCW access to a country's facilities, including verifying the destruction of chemical weapons that they might possess.
US officials said privately this week the Syrian regime had begun mixing precursor chemicals that could be used for sarin, a lethal nerve agent. Some media reports said the substance had been loaded into bombs for warplanes.
The comments came amid fierce fighting on the outskirts of Damascus and growing fears in Western capitals that the increasingly desperate regime might decide to use some of its chemical arms.
Washington worries that battlefield advances by rebels could prompt Assad to use chemical weapons; or that such stocks could become insecure or find their way into the hands of groups hostile to the United States and its allies.
UN chief Ban told journalists at a Syrian refugee camp in the Turkish border town of Islahiye that the use of chemical weapons would be "outrageous".
"If it is the case, then it will be an outrageous crime in the name of humanity," he said Friday.
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