RT NewsRussia is not convinced by the evidence which the US provided alleging that the government of Syria’s President Bashar Assad used chemical weapons against rebel forces.
“The Americans tried to present us with information on the use of chemical weapons by the regime, but frankly we thought that it was not convincing,” said presidential aide Yury Ushakov on Friday.
“We wouldn’t like to invoke references to the famous lab tube that [former US] Secretary of State [Colin] Powell showed, but the facts don’t look convincing in our eyes,” he added.
Powell brought a model vial, which he said looked like Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s weaponized anthrax, in a bid to convince members of the UN Security Council that they should agree to invade Iraq. The alleged weapons of mass destruction program proved to be non-existent after the US conquered the country in 2003.
Medics check a woman at a hospital in the northern Aleppo province, as Syria’s government accused rebel forces of using chemical weapons for the first time on March 19, 2013. (AFP Photo / SANA)
Ushakov was commenting on the US decision to allow military aid to Syrian rebels after coming to the conclusion that Assad’s government had used its chemical weapons stockpile in the conflict.
Ushakov said Moscow sees difficulties with organizing a proper investigation into the alleged cases of chemical weapon attacks in Syrian territory, which would provide more conclusive evidence on the issue.
“We have tried on several occasions to organize it, including those occasions when information arrived that rebels were using chemical weapons. Let’s see how the situation develops,” he said.
The UN probe into the use of chemical weapons in Syria did not travel to the sites of the alleged attacks because Damascus barred the experts from going there. Syrian officials cited concerns for the safety of the experts and voiced doubts about their impartiality, since neither China nor Russia were allowed to participate.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has warned that additional supplies to Syrian rebels will not contribute to the peace process, but on the contrary will plunge the country into chaos.
“There is little doubt that decisions on additional arms and military equipment supplies to illegal militant groups would drive up the level of violent confrontation and violence against innocent civilians. Especially, given that it comes amid calls to go further, to establish a no-fly zone over Syria to help not with just weapons, but heavy weapons,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aleksandr Lukashevich said.
The American move undermines the joint US-Russian effort to gather an international conference in Geneva on Syrian reconciliation, Ushakov added, although the exact damage will depend on Washington’s further actions.
“Of course, this will not help in the preparation of the international conference, if the Americans actually initiate larger-scale support of the rebels”, he said.
The next meeting of experts to discuss the event is scheduled for June 25. The conference has been postponed several times as the organizers are struggling to convince all interested parties to take part.
The aide added that the news will not affect Russia’s position on delivering S-300 surface-to-air missiles to the Syrian government. Moscow has a years-long standing contract with Damascus to supply the advanced air defense system, but has not fulfilled it yet.
Russia’s contract with Syria may have a serious impact on the balance of military power in the region. One of the more radical scenarios of the US providing military aid to the rebels is establishment of non-fly zones in Syria along its border with Jordan. The territory would then be used by rebel forces to rest and regroup out of reach of the Syrian Air Force.
I think we should be shown this “evidence” that France says is irrefutable and we need to be assured that the “evidence” gathering has been set to a standard equal to gathering techniques acceptable in a court of law.
See, sometimes the internet and people remembering things will be their downfall, was it not that long ago the US and Israel both said they had Assad’s chemical stockpiles under observation?
We only have to look back at their other failed attempts, the “Iranian” munitions written in NATO stencilled English with no Farsi being used by Hezbollah? Or should we look at other incitements such as the US setting up a Royal Naval boat crew that saw them being captured by the Iranians which they knew they would but the “Mad Mullahs” didn’t play the game as expected and apart from the heinous act of making a female member wear a headscarf and sleep segregated from the men, they were treated incredibly well.
And still no media mention whatsoever of “Al Qaeda” branches in Iraq and Turkey being caught red handed with ready to rock chemical weapons including Sarin, the cache captured in Turkey alone was enough to cause considerable carnage, the questions NOT being asked deliberately is WHERE Al Qaeda is getting their chemical weapons from because it isn’t Russia and so we have to look to the logical suspects, both who have vast stockpiles of deadly weapons and delivery means and both who have given them to other “enemies” of the US e.g. Sarin and VX gas used by Saddam Hussein against Iranian and Kurdish civilians AT the direction and encouragement of the US.
We need to thoroughly blast the media with the Turkish and Iraqi articles until they get the hint, I doubt very much if Assad has used chemical weapons against the rebels because he knows it would play directly into the hands of the enemies of Syria and we all know if he had really done so it would be plastered in six foot high letters across every newspaper and television broadcast, the lack of such is telling…
NoBamaNoBamaNoBama!
Please don’t fall in the same trap as GW Bush.
If you step down one day,do it with honour, not with what you currently doing.
I’m a black african,that were having lots of respect for you, but now as the most powerful black president on earth, I don’t know anymore.
James
You never took the red pill, did you, james m.
It definitely shows.