Israel says Assad's forces still have several tonnes of chemical weapons

[webfact]

Israel says Assad's forces still have several tonnes of chemical weapons

REUTERS

 

A member of forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad sits near damaged buildings in Aleppo's Salaheddine district, Syria December 16, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

 

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's military said on Wednesday it believes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces still possess several tonnes of chemical weapons, issuing the assessment two weeks after a chemical attack that killed nearly 90 people in Syria.

 

Israel, along with many countries, blames the strike on Assad's military. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said French intelligence services would provide proof of that in the coming days.

 

A senior Israeli military officer, in a briefing to Israeli reporters, said "a few tonnes of chemical weapons" remained in the hands of Assad's forces, a military spokesman told Reuters.

 

Some local media reports quoted the briefing officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with Israeli military procedure, as putting the amount at up to 3 tonnes.

 

In a 2013 agreement brokered by Russia and the United States, Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons.

 

Earlier in the day, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical weapons, a global watchdog, said sarin or a similar banned toxin was used in the April 4 strike in Syria's Idlib province.

 

The findings supported earlier testing by Turkish and British laboratories.

 

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on April 6 that he was "100 percent certain" that the attack was "directly ordered and planned by Assad". He did not elaborate on how he reached that conclusion.

 

Syria has repeatedly denied it was behind the attack in Khan Sheikhoun. Assad was quoted as saying last week that Syria's military gave up all its chemical weapons in 2013 after the agreement made at the time, and would not have used them anyway.

 

Israel closely monitors the civil war in Syria, a northern neighbour. During the six-year conflict, Israel has largely stayed on the sidelines, carrying out occasional air strikes against what it says is the movement of weapons to Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militants.

 

(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Alison Williams)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-20

[Srikcir]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

- Israel's military said on Wednesday it believes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces still possess several tonnes of chemical weapons

That wasn't something that the US should have been told before Asaad made his recent chemical attack?

[Stargeezr]

I think that Assad  and his friend Putin are both war criminals and should be in jail.  If Russia and Putin want to support Assad,  then  they should also share in the blame for this chemical attack and the continued bombings in

Syria.

Geezer

[theslime]

2 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

I think that Assad  and his friend Putin are both war criminals and should be in jail.  If Russia and Putin want to

support Assad,  then  they should also share in the blame for this chemical attack and the continued bombings in

Syria.

Geezer

hahaha, war criminals you opine.  google ...israel attack on Gaza or US support for ISIS if you want war criminals.

[nausea]

Bit of an asinine move by Assad, almost too asinine.

[boomerangutang]

3 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

I think that Assad  and his friend Putin are both war criminals and should be in jail.  If Russia and Putin want to support Assad,  then  they should also share in the blame for this chemical attack and the continued bombings in Syria.  Geezer

Perhaps so, but Trump and his minions seem eager to join the 'War Criminals' club.

 

54 minutes ago, nausea said:

Bit of an asinine move by Assad, almost too asinine.

I agree, and that's why I don't believe the US version of how it happened.  Being a murderous heartless thug doesn't mean the same person is stupid.

[quandow]

IF they still have some, it was sold to them by Hillary while she was still in office. Don't ignore the fact that it was U.S.-backed rebels who used the gas sold by the U.S. Howz about the U.S. get OUT of the business of regime change for the betterment and profiteering of their corporate masters?

Edited April 23, 2017 by quandow

[Credo]

5 hours ago, quandow said:

IF they still have some, it was sold to them by Hillary while she was still in office. Don't ignore the fact that it was U.S.-backed rebels who used the gas sold by the U.S. Howz about the U.S. get OUT of the business of regime change for the betterment and profiteering of their corporate masters?

What a nonsensical remark from a Hillary hater.   Chemical weapons are not sold as is, the precursor chemicals are sold and they are mixed when ready for delivery and it was not the US who sold them to Assad.   The report is that Assad has the chemicals, not the rebels.   

 

The rebels have no delivery system for chemical weapons.   

 

The precursor chemicals were not sold to Syria by the US, nor supplied to the rebels.   

 

 

 

 

[Scott]

Off-topic post removed.  

[JHolmesJr]

Would be news if israel said syria didnt have chemical weapons.