Allegations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons have no rational grounds and are nothing more than a premeditated act, as is proven by an abundance of publicly accessible evidence, Syrian President Bashar Assad told the RT broadcaster.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th November, 2019) Allegations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons have no rational grounds and are nothing more than a premeditated act, as is proven by an abundance of publicly accessible evidence, Syrian President Bashar Assad told the RT broadcaster.
"Every story was nothing more than allegation. The one who said there was use of chemical weapons, is the one who should prove his story, he is the one who should offer evidence that it's been used," Assad said in an interview when asked directly about the alleged chemical attacks in Jobar, Sheikh Maksoud, Saraqib, Khan Sheikhoun and Aleppo.
He pointed to the fact that every instance of a chemical attack being imputed to Damascus occurred when Syrian forces were successfully advancing and did not need such a measure.
"This is not rational; I mean the whole story, we do not need it, we are advancing. Every time they talk about using the chemical weapons, it was when we advance, not when we lose. I mean, even militarily, you may use, if you want to use such a weapon, I am not talking about the Syrian Army, because we do not have it anymore, but logically, you can use it when you are losing ground, not when you are advancing," Assad explained.
The Syrian leader mentioned the chemical attack in Ghouta in 2013 as an example of how using such weapons made no sense for his forces, given that it happened at the same time an international investigative commission was visiting Syria.
"The funny thing about that date [August 21, 2013] is that it is the same date when the first delegation, the international delegation that came to Syria to investigate the incident, arrived to Damascus, which is only few kilometers from this place; and logically, the Syrian army, if we supposed that it has chemical weapons, it wants to use it, it would not use it on that day," Assad said.
Another major inconsistency about the claims that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in Ghouta was that in an area like that, where people reside in close proximity to each other, a chemical bomb would have killed significantly more people than 200, as was claimed in the reports.
"That is what I mean. They did not offer any tangible evidence to prove that there was such an attack, and there were many reports that have refuted that report or those allegations. So, it was only allegation; never, ever has the Syrian army used chemical weapons before we handed over all arsenals to the international committee," Assad stressed.
When asked to comment on rumors that chemical weapons were indeed used in Syria, but by so-called rebels backed by the Saudi government and not Damascus, and that the video footage of the attacks were manipulated before reaching the public domain, Assad confirmed it.
"I mean they staged a play, full play, where somebody plays the role of the victim in many incidents, not only with the chemical weapons, even with bombardments, they stage a play that somebody is being the victim, and then at the end of the shooting, he is a normal person, he stands up and moves normally; you can see it on YouTube. It is very clear; we can offer you this evidence," the Syrian president said.
Ultimately, allegations that Damascus used chemical weapons were a "pretext to attack Syria" for the West, Assad added.
The West has repeatedly accused Damascus of carrying out chemical attacks in the course of its war against various opposition forces, including terrorists, since 2011.
In 2013, a major chemical attack was carried out in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, allegedly with the use of a nerve agent called sarin, leaving hundreds of people killed and thousands more contaminated. The West blamed Damascus and threatened to use force in retaliation for the alleged attack. As evidence, they cited video footage by the West-backed White Helmets group that pictured medical staff pouring water on people presumably affected by the nerve agent. Damascus has denied having anything to do with the attack, while Russia, a key ally for Syria, has touted it as a false-flag provocation and pretext for foreign intervention.
That same year, following the Russia- and US- brokered Framework for Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons, Damascus joined the Chemical Weapons Convention and began destroying its chemical weapons stockpile. In January 2016, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons verified that all chemical weapons declared by Syria had been eliminated.
