Assad reiterates his innocence. A year and a billion dollars to destroy chemical weapons
Damascus
(AsiaNews / Agencies) - Syrian President Bashar Assad has once again repeated
that his troops are not responsible for the chemical attack on Ghouta
on August 21. In
an interview with the TV channel Fox News , he also reiterated his readiness to
cooperate with the UN for the delivery and the destruction of the Syrian
chemical arsenal, but pointed out that at least one year and a billion dollars will be
needed to achieve this ends. Assad
also pointed out that the destruction of weapons is a dangerous process for the
environment.
Last
week the United States and Russia reached
an agreement on Damascus' surrender and destruction of its chemical weapons.
The
agreement allows one week for the delivery of data on the amount and the
whereabouts of the arsenals, the supervision of UN inspectors and the destruction
of weapons by mid- 2014.
Assad
did not mention the US-Russia agreement, which has helped avert a military
strike , but referred to the Chemical Weapons Convention , signed by Syria only
a week ago, after decades of denial.
"Every
time we adhere to an agreement - he said - we remain committed to those
agreements ."
In
the interview, the Syrian president said once again that his army has not
launched chemical weapons on Ghouta , which put at risk the lives of thousands
of civilians, but also of his troops.
Three
days ago the
UN report on the attack in Ghouta was made public, which confirms that sarin
gas was used. The report does
not say who was responsible for the attack. But
the United States, Britain, France and the Syrian opposition point the finger
at Assad 's army .
Yesterday,
the Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Rabkov, during a visit
to Damascus, said that "the report was distorted , biased, and the basic
information on which it is built is insufficient". Yesterday
Syria has handed some "evidence" over to Russia to support the view
that the rebels were using sarin gas .
The
UN spokesman , Martin Nesirky defended the report and the trust Ban Ki -moon
has in the team of experts that it drew up . "The mission confirmed unequivocally and objectively
that chemical weapons have been used in Syria ... It detailed the types and trajectories of the rockets used to deliver
their lethal payload that led to the deaths of so many civilians."
In
the report it is noted that some missiles - at least two out of five - were
launched from an area in the north - west of Damascus, where the Syrian army
bases are. This
consideration strengthens the accusations against Assad. But
the report also observes that the inspected sites "were visited by other people
long before the arrival of the mission ." It adds that "during the
period spent in these places, different individuals arrived bringing more suspicious
material. Which indicates that potential evidence may have been removed and
possibly tampered with". The area they
are talking about is under the control of the rebels. The
report does not explain who the individuals of whom they speak are.
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13/04/2018 11:35
