“inconsistent with reality”
Source:
Information Clearing House
Chemical Weapons
Claims a 'Barefaced Lie,' says Syrian Minister
By RT
April
27, 2013 "Information Clearing House" -"RT" - Without hard evidence, American
accusations of chemical weapons use in Syria fall short of UN proof standards,
says a UN chemical inspector. And in the way proposed, a probe would only
result in an Iraqi scenario, the Syrian information minister told RT.
The anti-Assad lobby in the UN is using the chemical weapons scare
as a new way to exert political and economic pressure on the Syrian government,
the country's information minister Omran Ahed al-Zouabi told RT.
“First of all, I want to confirm that statements
by the US Secretary of State and British government are inconsistent with
reality and a barefaced lie,” he told RT. “I want
to stress one more time that Syria would never use it - not only because of its
adherence to the international law and rules of leading war, but because of
humanitarian and moral issues.”
Syria itself made the official request to the UN to investigate
the incident in Khan al-Assal, which is an “important and brave step,”
al-Zouabi stressed.
“It proves once again that the whole policy of
the Syrian government is targeted against use of any kind of weapons of mass
destruction by anybody: terrorists, Israel or any other neighboring state,”
he said.
The United States pretends that there are no terrorists acting on
Syrian territory at the same time being a country “involved in the biggest
terror acts in the world,” the minister claimed. “The US is concealing
that Qatar is financing terrorists, supply weapons to them. Thus, the US is
basically involved in what is happening in Syria.”
‘Iraqi scheme of
inspections’
In all their “absurdity and deceitfulness,” al-Zouabi
explained, such statements by some Western governments are made in pursuit of
basic goals.
“Their aim is, first, to cover those who are
really behind use of chemical weapons in Khan al-Assal, and secondly, to repeat
Iraq’s scenario, to pave the way for other investigation inspections. To
provide, based on their results, maps, photos of rockets and other fabricated
materials to the UN, which as we know, opened the way to the occupation of
Iraq.”
Russian foreign ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich meanwhile
said that the UN Secretary-General's initial positive reaction to Syria's appeal for an investigation“underwent
a drastic change under the influence of a number of states.”
“The management of the UN Secretariat demanded
that Damascus agree to the establishment of a permanent mechanism for
inspection throughout Syrian territory with unlimited access to everywhere,”
Lukashevich explained.
“The proposed scheme of inspections is similar
to those used at the end of the last century in Iraq, which, unlike Syria, was
under UN sanctions.” After months of silence, the UN is now
referring to information from France and Britain about other cases of alleged
use of chemical weapons last year, which Lukashevich believes demonstrates a
highly politicized approach.
“It's difficult to understand why leaders of the
UN Secretariat preferred to follow those who are concerned not about exact
steps towards the suppression of use of chemical weapons in the Syrian crisis,
but about changing the ruling regime of a sovereign state.”
Inspectors on standby
The United Nations again pushed on Thursday for unconditional and unfettered
access for its team of investigators, which has been on standby in Cyprus since
Syria refused it access nearly three weeks ago.
“We do not trust the American and British
experts from a political point of view,” al-Zouab explained. “We
also do not trust their qualifications. Their aim is to juggle with facts.”
“We won’t mind if Russians would be among the
experts, quite the contrary, we only welcome this idea. We are quite sure in
their high qualification and ability to clearly see into such matters.”
Experts from Russia and China however were not included in the
team to ensure it wasn’t biased, according to the United Nations.
At the time Russian EU envoy Vitaly Churkin criticized “this kind
of logic,” saying in that case he “would recommend excluding all NATO
countries too.” Syrian officials maintain that they are ready to accept “a
neutral and honest technical team to visit the village of Khan al-Assal” in
the province of Aleppo.
The Syrian opposition meanwhile is also dead set against the
inclusion of Russian and Chinese experts in the investigation team.
“The Russian side has no status allowing it to conduct a fair
and impartial criminal investigation,” the Syrian National Council said in
a statement, because Russia “is a major supplier of conventional and
strategic weapons to the Syrian regime, as well as the main political guarantor
of it staying in power.”
“The UN needs to immediately investigate the use of chemical
weapons in Syria,” an anonymous member of the council told AFP. “Should
it find the regime used such weapons, it must act immediately, at least by
imposing a no-fly zone.”
No samples whatsoever
Whether or not illegal chemical agents were used by either side
during the Syrian conflict can only be determined by analyzing samples
collected at the scenes of alleged attacks, said the Hague-based Organisation
for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which despite not being a
United Nations body, collaborates with the UN on such inspections.
None of the governments and intelligence agencies accusing
Damascus of using chemical weapons have presented any of the evidence that
would be required for a clear analysis, such as soil, blood, urine or tissue
samples, said Michael Luhan, a spokesman for OPCW.
But even if samples were provided, the OPCW would never get
involved in testing something that its own inspectors did not “gather in the
field” because of the need to “maintain a chain of custody of samples
from the field to the lab to ensure their integrity,” said Luhan.
“This is the only basis on which the OPCW would
provide a formal assessment of whether chemical weapons have been used.”
Meanwhile, waiting for a green light to enter Syria, members of
the UN team “have been collating and analyzing the evidence and information
that is available to date from outside,” Martin Nesirky, a spokesman for UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said on Friday.
‘US retains the ability
to act unilaterally’
“With varying degrees of confidence” the American
intelligence community has determined that “the Syrian regime has used
chemical weapons,” US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced on Thursday.
Giving the statement added significance, early afternoon on
Friday, White House press secretary Jay Carney announced that the Obama
administration has a number of options in regards to handling such reports -
including direct use of military force
- and that United States retains the ability to ‘act unilaterally’ in choosing
one.
Just hours later, President Obama himself said, "horrific
as it is…to use potential weapons of mass destruction on civilian populations
crosses another line with respect to international norms and international law.”
His remarks came after a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah in the Oval
Office, amid mass demonstrations
against deployment of US troops on Jordanian border with Syria.