US snubs UN disarmament body session over Syria's presidency

Accused of deploying chemical weapons against civilians, Assad regime seeks to ‘normalize’ itself through international institutions, American ambassador says

GENEVA — The United States is snubbing a session of the UN’s main disarmament body to protest Syria’s turn to hold the rotating presidency.

The move by Robert Wood, the US’s ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, comes a week after he temporarily walked out as Syria kicked off its four-week presidency. He later returned and exchanged verbal jabs with the chair.

The US diplomatic mission in Geneva said Wood will bow out entirely Tuesday.

Critics, including rights groups and Western governments, accuse Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government of using chemical weapons on civilians during Syria’s seven-year civil war and say it is inappropriate that it is presiding over the 65-member body overseeing the international convention on preventing such use.

In a statement, Wood cited Syria’s “repeated attempts” to use its presidency to “normalize the regime and its unacceptable and dangerous behavior.”