Syria Denies, Condemns Use Of Chemical Weapons

With global sentiment turning against Syria again, and even president Trump yesterday saying his opinion on Syrian policy has changed (it was not immediately clear just how), on Thursday Syria’s foreign minister dismissed allegations that the Syrian Army deployed chemical weapons in the city of Idlib, saying the military will never use such weapons against its own people or even terrorists.
As reported by AP, Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem denied claims that the military used chemical weapons in the western city of Idlib. Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Muallem said an airstrike by Syrian military had targeted an arms depot where chemical weapons stockpiles were stored by Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front militants. He said it’s impossible that the army – which has been making significant gains in almost all theaters of the Syrian war – would use banned chemical weapons against its ‘own people’ and even terrorists.
Asked if Damascus would allow a fact-finding mission into the Idlib incident, Muallem said past experience of similar investigations was ‘not encouraging.’ He also said that he could not predict ‘the reality of US intentions’ in Syria. Muallem added that such a mission must not be politicized and must start its operations ‘from Damascus, not Turkey,’ apparently referring to the latest statements by Ankara condemning the incident, as well as the fact that some victims were taken to Turkey for autopsy.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Apr 6, 2017.