Analyst:

UN Turns Blind Eye to Damascus Proof of Terrorists' Gas Attack in Syria

Rasa - The US has called on Russia and Iran to help make the Syrian government accountable for allegedly using chlorine against civilians as Damascus complains that the UN ignored hundreds of reports on chemical attacks filed by the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

News ID: 423011

Date: 27 August 2016 - 21:29

RNA - Analyst Rostislav Ishchenko, the head of the Center for Systems Analysis and Forecasting, pointed out that the UN and other organizations turned a blind eye to documents and evidence provided by Syrian authorities on gas attacks that were carried out by militant groups.

Syrian envoy to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari had told that the UN ignored hundreds of reports on chemical attacks filed by the Syrian government.

The Analyst, according to Sputnik, maintained that the US is adding fuel to the fire with respect to the recent report because militant groups trying to overthrow Bashar al-Assad are losing in Aleppo.

Experts agree that the outcome of the ongoing battle for Syria's second largest city will most likely determine the future of the country, as the Syrian Army and its allies are racing towards Aleppo after completing siege of the city and capturing the most vital stronghold of the militants in the region.

"The defeated party in Aleppo will lose in the Syrian conflict. A defeat in Syria will lead to the US losing its status in the Middle East," the analyst said. "It will also put an end to Washington's attempts to maintain hegemony. This is why the US is ready to raise the risk bar to the maximum," he added.

The United States Wednesday called on Russia and Iran to join efforts to seek accountability for those responsible for using chemical weapons in Syria, after the United Nations released the results of a probe into chemical weapons attacks in Syria in 2014 and 2015 that implicated the Syrian government and the ISIL terrorist group, while Damascus has repeatedly denied "these false accusations".

Ishchenko further said that Washington's response to the OPCW's report "is an attempt to replay a lost campaign [in Syria] by threatening to launch a large-scale military operation." He called it a "chemical blackmail".

The analyst said while Barack Obama is in office "there is hope" that he will not yield to the pressure from hardliners in the US who have long championed America's greater military involvement in the devastated Arab country.

"This is why Russia needs to resolve the 'chemical problem' that the US created in Syria as soon as possible, before Obama's term runs out," he added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Thursday, once again, emphasized the use of chemical weapons by the ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

Moscow welcomes the release of the third UN and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) report on chemical weapons use in Syria, which confirms that Daesh (ISIL) militants have chemical weapons, the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday during her weekly press briefing.

"I would like to comment on the release of the third report of the joint UN-OPCW mechanism to investigate chemical weapons use in Syria. We welcome the release of this report… we can say this now, and of course this was not a revelation for us that Daesh militants have chemical weapons, they use them not only in Iraq, but also Syria," she added.

The Spokesperson reminded that Moscow had warned about the ISIL being in possession of chemical weapons numerous times.

Maria Zakharova also said that the policy of some Western states had triggered increase in terrorism. She criticized the opponents of President Bashar al-Assad for reluctance to help settle the Syrian crisis.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that the United States should do what it promised to do regarding separating the moderate Syrian opposition from terrorists instead of making claims regarding Damascus allegedly using chemical weapons.

"They should look in the mirror and do what they have been promising to do since January – to separate the opposition which they consider loyal from terrorists. They cannot do this, they are either unable to do this or do not want to do it," Lavrov told reporters.

The ISIL terrorists has used chemical weapons several times in attack against the residents of Syrian and Iraqi towns and villages as well as government forces, killing hundreds of people.

The Iranian Radio and Television correspondent in Syria and Iraq, Shemshadi Hassan, in an exclusive interviwe, had also told Sputnik that following the Ghouta attack several Western media outlets spoke to the militants in Damascus suburbs who confirmed that they were behind it.

“Over these years, the terrorists’ sponsors and the media resources they control never reported that a few Western media following the chemical attack in Ghouta went to the terrorists in the suburbs of Damascus and talked with them,” he said.

“The terrorists during the meeting admitted that it was they who carried out the chemical attacks in Eastern Ghouta and purposely accused the Syrian government’s army,” he added.

The Ghouta chemical attack left a death toll ranging from at least 281 people to 1,729. The attack was the deadliest use of chemical weapons since the Iran–Iraq War.

“Even before the chemical weapons were used in Eastern Ghouta, a video appeared on the Internet showing how the terrorists were using gas to poison rabbits. Militants threatened that they would use this weapon to destroy the Syrian authorities, government’s army and people, all those who support Assad,” the correspondent underlined.

Hassan underscored that after that video, there were reports that Saudi Arabia, near the borders of Syria and Jordan, has organized workspace for the production of special chemicals which are necessary to create chemical weapons, to be used by the terrorists.

Syria has been mired in bloody war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Assad Assad fighting numerous terrorist groups.

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