True danger from Syrian chemical weapons is if militants acquire them – Russian FM
RT.
9
December, 2012
The
Syrian government does not intend, and has never planned, to use
chemical weapons against rebel forces, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov has said, addressing rumors the that the Assad regime
is preparing to use its chemical weapons arsenal.
The
biggest threat surrounding Syria's chemical weapons is their
“probable acquisition by militants,” Lavrov
said.
“According
to our information, and this information we pass to our US
colleagues, and European colleagues, [the Syrian] government does not
have such intentions and cannot have, because this is all very
serious,” the
minister said on Sunday.
Russia
took seriously the rumors surrounding Syria's chemical weapons and
sought clarity from the Syrian government, and is passing on this
information to other nations, Lavrov explained.
“It
is not the first time when reports, that can be called rumors or
leak, suggesting Syrian government moves reserves of chemical weapon
from places where it is being storage to different locations and
prepares to use it, emerge,” he
said.
Lavrov’s
statement came in response to recent allegations from the US Pentagon
and State Department that Syria is preparing to use chemical weapons.
The rumors were quickly disseminated in Western media.
This
week, NBC quoted anonymous US officials' accusations that the Syrian
military loaded the deadly nerve gas Sarin into aerial bombs, which
could then be dropped on rebels from Mig-23 or Sukhoi-24 aircraft.
Another
report by ABC News, also quoting unnamed American officials,
suggested the bombs have not yet been loaded onto planes.
US
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton commented on the reports,
reiterating that the use of chemical weapons would be crossing “a
red line.”
On
December 4, NATO foreign ministers approved
Ankara’s request for Patriot missiles to
be deployed on the Turkey-Syria border. The deployment was requested
over fears that Syria could attack its neighbor with missiles and
chemical weapons.
Syria’s
chemical weapons stockpile became a topic of international concern
this past July. Syria is reportedly in possession of nerve agents,
including mustard gas, as well as the Scud missiles needed to deliver
them. The country is one of six states that have not signed the
Chemical Weapons Convention, which outlaws their production.
‘We are not talking Assad’s fate’
On
Sunday, Russia agreed to take part in resumed talks in Geneva on the
Syria conflict with US diplomats and UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.
However, Moscow refused to negotiate “on
the fate of Assad.”
Lavrov
said the US was wrong to see Moscow as softening its position, adding
that Russia will not back down from its position on the Syria
conflict.
"All
attempts to portray things differently are unscrupulous, even for
diplomats of those countries which are known to try to distort the
facts in their favor,” Lavrov
said.
Earlier
on Thursday, Lavrov held informal talks with Clinton and Brahimi.
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