Damascus, SANA – The Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said that following the achievements made by the Syrian Arab Army in routing terrorist organizations in Damascus Countryside, Hama’s northern countryside, and other areas, some regional and international sides that are hostile to Syria along with their terrorist pawns are issuing false allegations about the possibility of the Syrian army using chemical weapons in its operations.
In a statement on Sunday, the Ministry said that the Syrian Arab Republic affirmed repeatedly and is now reiterating that it never has and never will use chemical weapons under any context, and at the same time Syria warns that the sides in the region and the world who are conspiring against it might provide chemical weapons to terrorist organizations to be used against the Syrian people and frame the Syrian Arab Army for the attacks, similar to what happened in Khan al-Assal in Aleppo and in al-Ghouta in Damascus Countryside last year.
The statement said that this scenario would be an attempt to fabricate an excuse to wage a premeditated aggression on Syria, particularly after Syria’s response to the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initiative in 2013 foiled the aggression which was prepared for Syria.
The Foreign Ministry’s statement asserted that Syria has fulfilled its commitments in the framework of its joining the Chemical Weapons Conviction and affirms that it has become free of this sort of weapon after its full cooperation with the joint mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations.
The statement said Syria expects the international community to reject the false pretexts that exploit the issue of chemical weapons and to focus instead on counterterrorism and exercising pressure on terrorism backers to cease their arming, funding, and harboring of terrorists in order to preserve peace and security in the region and the world.
Hazem Sabbagh