Baghdad Against Expansion of UN Commission on Chemical Attacks in Iraq

According to the Iraqi ambassador to Russia, Baghdad supports the United Nations’ investigation of chemical attacks in Syria, but is against expanding the organisation's investigation in Iraq.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Baghdad supports the United Nations’ investigation of chemical attacks in Syria, but it opposes the expansion of the United Nations' investigation on its territory, Iraqi Ambassador to Russia Haidar Mansour Hadi told Sputnik.

"Iraq is not against the investigation, but it is against the expansion of UN commission powers' to Iraq … in Syria there are a mutual accusations between the government and the terrorist groups, but in Iraq the accusations are only against the Islamic State [Daesh]," the ambassador said.

On March 3, media reported that chemical weapons had been used during a fight between the IS terrorists and Iraqi troops in eastern Mosul. Despite the reports, as the Russian Defense Ministry pointed out, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) did not attempt to send its experts to investigate the chemical weapon attacks and did not issue any official statements condemning the chemical weapon use.

The current operation of the Iraqi and US-led coalition forces to recapture Mosul, the key stronghold of Daesh in Iraq, began in October 2016 and resulted in the liberation of eastern Mosul this January. Notwithstanding this accomplishment, fighting still continues in the city's western areas.