UN says Syria's applying for joining chemical weapons treaty Bashar Ja'afari, Syria's permanent representative to the UN, speaks to the media at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. Syria, under investigation for the alleged use of chemical weapons and the threat of a U.S. attack for allegedly using them, has started the process of joining the UN Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). (Xinhua/Niu Xiaolei)