The Syrian government set conditions on Thursday for any international inquiry into a suspected chemical attack that killed scores of people, saying it must not be “politicised” and should set out from Damascus and not Turkey.
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said Syria’s past experience with international inquiries had not been encouraging. The government would only decide on the idea once its concerns were addressed, he said.
Mr. Moualem also reiterated the government’s strong denial that it was behind the attack on Tuesday in Khan Sheikhoun in the northwestern province of Idlib, an area mostly controlled by rebel groups at the border with Turkey.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said President Bashar al-Assad’s government had gone “beyond a red line” and said his attitude towards Syria and Mr. Assad had changed. But he gave no indication of how he would respond.
Mr. Moualem did not directly respond to questions about Mr. Trump’s comments. But he said he recognised “the gravity” of recent U.S. statements, and cited speculation U.S. comments may have been a means of exercising diplomatic pressure at the United Nations.
Mr. Moualem, speaking at a news conference in Damascus, said the Syrian government’s Russian allies had put forward ideas for the formation of a “non-politicised commission of inquiry”. “It must not be politicised, it must leave from Damascus and not Turkey. We have numerous questions about this subject. When we are certain these questions are addressed with convincing answers, we will give you our response,” he said.
Western states have accused the Syrian government of carrying out the chemical attack on Tuesday that killed at least 70 people including at least 20 children. Russia has said the deaths were caused by a gas leak from a depot where rebel groups were storing chemical weapons, after a Syrian air strike.
Mr. Moualem said an air strike had hit a store where the Nusra Front was storing chemical weapons. The Nusra Front now operates as part of a jihadist alliance called Tahrir al-Sham. He said both the Nusra Front and the Islamic State were storing chemical weapons in urban areas of Syria.
AFP adds:
Kremlin lashes out at U.S.
The Kremlin on Thursday said US allegations that Syrian forces carried out a deadly chemical attack are not based on “objective” information.
“We consider a much more measured approach necessary and do not think it is possible to surrender oneself to hasty conclusions about what happened in Syria in the Idlib province,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“It was really a threatening development of events, very dangerous and a monstrous crime,” he said, referring to the incident.
“No one could have any realistic, verified information. Any data that the American side or our colleagues in other countries could have cannot be based on objective materials or evidence.”
