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Executive Summary for May 24th

We review the key developments in Syria, including a visit by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to the site of a sarin attack, French authorities linking the Manchester bomber to Syria and the health crisis threatening newly liberated al-Bab.

Published on May 24, 2017 Read time Approx. 2 minutes

Chemical Weapons Watchdog to Visit Khan Sheikhoun After Sarin Find

“Sarin or sarin-like substances” have been discovered by officials from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in samples from the April 4 attack on Khan Sheikhoun, the Washington Post reported.

The OPCW officials now want to visit the town, and OPCW director-general Ahmet Uzumcu has requested security, logistical and operational assistance from the U.N. in order for such a mission to take place.

U.N. disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu told the Security Council that plans for a visit are underway following a positive response from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on May 4, and that any excursion to the opposition-held town “would be accompanied by the most stringent security assurances.”

The OPCW also submitted a report into an alleged chemical weapons attack near Um Hosh, Aleppo, on September 16 last year, which suggested “sulfur mustard” use.

Manchester Bomber ‘Traveled to Libya and Syria,’ Say French Authorities

The man responsible for the suicide bomb attack on a pop concert in Manchester, U.K., had visited Libya and probably Syria and was radicalized during – or just before – his time there, according to French authorities.

The authorities cited intelligence passed to them by British investigators in making the statement.

Reuters reported that French interior minister Gerard Collomb said that British intelligence services also confirmed that British-born Salman Abedi, responsible for the bomb that killed 22 at Manchester Arena on Monday evening, had links to the so-called Islamic State.

Speaking on French television, Collomb said: “Today, we only know what British investigators have told us – someone of British nationality, of Libyan origin, who suddenly after a trip to Libya, then probably to Syria, becomes radicalized and decides to carry out this attack.”

Asked if Abedi was working in consort with others or as a part of cell, he added: “That is not known yet, but perhaps. In any case, [he had] links with Daesh (ISIS) that are proven.”

Contaminated Wells Place Al-Bab on Brink of Typhoid Crisis

The recently liberated northern Syrian city of al-Bab is on the verge of a public health crisis, with typhoid rife due to contaminated water, Syria Direct reported.

The city, undergoing rebuilding following a lengthy military campaign by the Free Syria Army to liberate it from ISIS occupation, has seen cases of typhoid fever rocket in recent weeks.

Lack of running water has forced residents, who have returned home in their thousands following the departure of ISIS forces, to dig makeshift wells in search of water, many of which have unwittingly struck sewage pipes buried beneath the city. “This is the main cause for the current typhoid outbreak,” according to one activist and al-Bab resident.

Dr. Mohammad Ismail, whose private clinic is treating 10–15 new typhoid patients each day, says the scale of the water contamination and subsequent typhoid outbreak is “simply beyond the city’s capabilities.”

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