Pressure grows over attack in Syria
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SYRIA’S government and Russia hit back yesterday at accusations Damascus was behind a deadly chemical weapons attack, as pressure built for international action over what Washington called an “affront to humanity.”
France said it was determined to pursue a UN Security Council resolution to investigate dozens of civilian deaths in a northwestern Syria town, which Turkey blamed on a “chemical attack” by the Damascus government.
At least 86 people were killed early on Tuesday in rebel-held Khan Sheikhun, and dozens more have received treatment for convulsions, breathing problems and foaming at the mouth.
World powers have pointed the finger at the government of Bashar Assad, but Foreign Minister Walid Muallem repeated the government’s denial yesterday.
“The Syrian army has not, did not and will not use this kind of weapons — not just against our own people, but even against the terrorists that attack our civilians with their mortar rounds,” he said.
Longtime ally Russia described the events in Khan Sheikhun as a “monstrous crime,” but said there was no “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,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
At least 32 people were transferred across the border into Turkey for treatment, and Ankara said autopsies performed on three people who died in Turkish hospitals confirmed chemical weapons had been used.
“This scientific investigation also confirms that Assad used chemical weapons,” Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said.
Reports from Khan Sheikhun on Wednesday said dead animals were lying in the streets and residents were still in shock at seeing their relatives die.
“Nineteen members of my family were killed,” 28-year-old Abdulhamid said, surrounded by mourning relatives.
“We put some masks on but it didn’t do anything ... People just started falling to the ground,” he said. He lost his twin children and wife in the attack.
After an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Western diplomats are expected to push for an early vote on a resolution demanding an investigation into the attack.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the resolution, presented by Britain, France and the United States, remained a priority.
“These crimes must not go unpunished,” he said.
If confirmed, the attack would be among the worst incidents of chemical weapons use in Syria’s civil war, which has killed more than 320,000 people since it began in March 2011.
It has also prompted an about-face from US President Donald Trump, who in 2013 urged then-President Barack Obama not to intervene against Assad after a suspected chemical attack.
Senior US officials had also recently suggested it was no longer a priority that Assad be removed from power.
Trump described the alleged attack as an “affront to humanity” and warned it had changed his view of Assad.
“I will tell you, it’s already happened, that my attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much,” he told reporters at a joint White House news conference with Jordan’s King Abdullah.
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