"Minister of Foreign Affairs [Chrystia Freeland] today announced an additional Canadian contribution of $2.5 million [1.9mln USD] to strengthen the capacity of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria," the statement read.
Freeland’s office said this contribution would help the UN-backed independent agency to collect evidence and make sure that Syria’s chemical weapons program had been eliminated, as was agreed in 2013.
The announcement was made the same day as the OPCW fact-finding mission released a report on the April 4 incident in the Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib province, saying a chemical agent sarin or a sarin-like substance was used there. The attack allegedly killed a hundred civilians.
The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, a rebel group, and the US-led international coalition blamed the Syrian government for the atrocity. Authorities denied any wrongdoing and said they had destroyed all of their chemical weapons, while Russia called for a proper investigation.
