Syria Requests UN to Form Mission to Investigate Terrorists’ Use of Chemical Weapons in Khan al-Asal
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DAMASCUS, (SANA) – The government of Syria requested that the UN Secretary-General form a specialized, independent and neutral technical mission to investigate terrorists’ use of chemical weapons in Khan al-Asal in Aleppo province, the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said on Wednesday.
The Ministry pointed out that this request affirms Syria’s commitment to uncovering the details of this crime and the threats it poses to the safety of Syrian citizens, in addition to refuting all the lies propagated by the circles that support terrorism and terrorists.
On December 8th 2012, Syria informed the UN Secretary-General of its worries that some countries that support terrorism would provide chemical weapons to terrorist groups who would use and claim that it was the Syrian government that used them.
Earlier on Tuesday, Syria sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General after the terrorists committed their crime in Khan al-Asal, informing him of the details of this crime and demanding that the international community take preventative steps against these armed groups and its supporters out of Syria’s commitment to protecting its people and its adherence to the rules and principles of international law.
H. Sabbagh
Russia: Use of Chemical Weapons by “Syrian Opposition” Is Very Serious Precedent
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MOSCOW, (SANA)- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the use of chemical weapons by “the Syrian opposition” is “a very serious precedent”.
“This incident constitutes a very worrying and serious development in the context of the crisis in Syria,” the Ministry said in a statement published on its website.
The statement expressed Russia’s deep concern “over weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of gunmen, which further aggravates the situation and pushes the confrontation in the country to a new level.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry called upon all rational parties in Syria to abandon violence and move to realistic steps towards achieving the political solution through negotiations based on the Geneva Statement adopted by the action group on Syria on June 30.
Terrorists fired a rocket containing chemical substances on Khan al-Asal area in the countryside of Aleppo. Information indicated that 25 people, mostly civilians, were killed and over 100 others were injured.
Moscow Voices Regret over Doha Coalition’s Election of So-called Prime Minister
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement that the Syrian opposition’s act of electing a “prime minister” may lead to further instability in Syria, voicing regret over this step which doesn’t help reach a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis and contradicts the Geneva statement.
Lukashevich said that this decision increases the danger of division as it not only excludes the supporters of the legitimate current Syrian government, but also excludes the opposition forces that aren’t part of the coalition.
He said that what happened and the statements made by Ghassan Hito, who was elected on Monday by the Doha coalition as a so-called “prime minister,” show that this coalition has shifted from its affirmations in support of dialogue made in February to its hardliner course of its statement in Doha in November 2012.
Lukashevich said that Russia still believes that the way out is through ending all kinds of violence and achieving tangible agreements between the Syrian government and the opposition according to the Geneva statement, reiterating calls to all sides to support this resolution and to refrain from obstructing it.
Matuzov: Chemical Attack in Aleppo Gives Justifications for Foreign Interference in Syrian Crisis
Russian Political Analyst, Vyacheslav Matuzov stressed that the goal of the terrorist crime which took place on Tuesday in Khan al-Asal in Aleppo where a chemical weapon was used is to bring the foreign interference in Syria.
The military escalation with the participation of the US and the West depending on the armed terrorist groups aims at frightening the Syrian people through such terrorist acts, Matuzov said in a phone call with the Syrian T.V, indicating that the opposition has been insisting on this idea since the beginning of the crisis.
“It was expected that such provocations will happen and some of the /opposition parties/ will resort to these dirty ways of using a chemical weapon to give the US and the West justifications to directly interfere in the Syrian crisis,” he said.
He pointed out that these attempts are doomed to fail as the West will not interfere despite of this shameful provocation.
He criticized the double- standard policy adopted by the US, saying “on one hand, they say that they support the Russian stances in Geneva Conference, and on the other hand, they call for arming the armed groups in Syria by Arab and foreign sides.”
“We understand the hasty stance of the US which supports the military solution, and we tell them that Russia is firm in its stances and we will not abandon our firm stances under the US pressures…in these circumstances the US and the West can only depend on illegal armed groups which violate the international law,” he added.
He went on saying that the US game is faced by the Syrian people and their army which confronts the provocations and the challenges, and defends the homeland and the Syrians’ interests . He asserted that Russia’s stances towards the events in Syria are firm and they come in line with the interests of the two friendly peoples.
English Bulletin
Iran Condemns Chemical Attack Against Khan Al-Asal
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TEHRAN, (SANA)- Iran on Wednesday strongly condemned firing a rocket carrying chemical materials on Khan al-Asal by the armed terrorist groups, describing it as “a hostile step against humanity”.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, expressed his country’s solidarity with the families of the victims.
In a press statement, Mehmanparast held the perpetrator of the crime and the countries which support them responsible for such crimes.
Affirming its principled stances on the necessity of adhering to the peaceful compromise to the crisis in Syria, Iran considered that the stability in the region depends on the commitment to the political option in solving the crisis, he said.
He asserted that Iran calls upon all human rights organizations and institutions to condemn this crime and to shoulder their responsibilities.
The armed terrorist groups on Tuesday fired a rocket carrying chemical materials on Khan al-Asad area in Aleppo, killing and injuring dozens of citizens.
H. Zain/ R.al-Jazaeri
Abdullahian: Some Countries’ Insistence on Sending Weapons to Terrorists is International Terrorism
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TEHRAN, (SANA)- Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs , Hussein Amir Abdullahian, stressed that insistence of some countries on sending weapons to the terrorists in Syria and their abstaining from offering aid to stop violence considered as an international terrorism.
In a statement on Tuesday, Abdullahian condemned the foreign flagrant interference in Syria’s internal affairs.
“The latest acts perpetrated by the armed terrorist groups against the Syrian people and the opposition that believes in national dialogue have failed,” he said.
He called upon all sides to engage in a national and constructive dialogue with the Syrian government.
H. Zain/
Mikdad: Crime in Khan al-Asal Adds to Record of Terrorist Groups
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DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Deputy Foreign an Expatriates Minister Dr. Fayssal Mikdad affirmed that the crime committed against civilians by the armed terrorist groups who launched a missile which produced gases in the area adds up to these groups which are supported by some countries in the Arab Gulf, the West and particularly Turkey which is responsible for the crimes committed against civilians and the destruction taking place in Syria.
In statements to journalists following his meeting on Tuesday with ambassadors in Damascus and representatives of international organizations operating in Syria, Mikdad said that this criminal acts proves the correctness of the analysis made by Syria which states that all the propaganda used in past weeks which made false accusations against the Syrian government were in preparation for committing this crime.
He said that the explosion of the missile martyred over 21 civilians and 10 Syrian soldiers who were near the site, adding that citizens who inhaled the gases resulting from the explosion passed out immediately and were rushed to hospitals in Aleppo city.
Mikdad affirmed that Syria will defend its people, continue its war against terrorist, and resume work to end the violence and the attacks committed by terrorist groups and those who arm, support, fund, harbor and send into Syria.
He called on the international community to be vigilant, because the threat posed by terrorist group won’t affect only Syria; rather it’s a prelude that will affect the entire region and the whole world.
“Encouraging terrorism and supporting it in Syria contradicts international law and Security Council resolutions,” Mikdad said, adding that Syria will send a letter to the Security Council requesting it shoulder its responsibly and put an end to the crimes of terrorists and those who support them.
Answering journalists’ questions, Mikdad noted that Syria warned long ago that the allegations on the possibility of using chemical weapons were meant to assist terrorists when they launch their missiles, which is exactly the scenario which was implemented on Tuesday before the convening of the Arab Summit and other international activities in order to mislead world public opinion.
He said that the countries that claimed Syria could use these weapons against its own people were in fact preparing the terrorist group to launch such attacks, pointing out that the authorities are examining the explosion site, the soil there and the patients who are suffering from the results of this criminal acts, and that the results will be presented to the concerned sides.
Responding to a question on the allegations that the Syrian Army launched the missile, Mikdad said that the missile was launched from an area controlled by terrorists and it fell near a Syrian Army location in area under the control of the Army and supporters who are not influenced by the terrorist groups, reiterating that Syria would never use such weapons if it possessed any against its own people and forces.
He said that the international community now knows through reports the true intentions of the terrorist groups and witnessed the tests they conducted on such weapons, particularly after the terrorists seized a factory for making chlorine and possibly used materials from it to produce such a weapon.
Answering a question on media leaks saying that Britain made a decision to transport troops from Afghanistan to the area for the purpose of intervention in Syria, Mikdad said that if such a decision was true, then it’s wrong to consider it or the arming of the opposition by some EU countries including France and Britain to be new decisions, because these countries have been arming the opposition and terrorist groups since the events began, in addition to participating in their operations, planning and executing and the murder of Syrians.
“Syria holds these countries since the first hours of violence responsible for complicity in murdering Syrians and shedding their blood,” he said.
Mikdad called upon the UN and the international community to put an end to the interference by the US, France, Britain and certain involved Arab Gulf countries in Syrian affairs and to the training and arming of terrorists, because this will have negative repercussions on the region and on countries which support terrorism under different justifications which only elicit sarcasm from Syrians and more self-confidence in confronting these countries which want to return Syria to the ages of colonialism, affirming that the steadfast Syrian people will thwart this conspiracy.
In response to the opposition’s political statements, Mikdad said that the political program for resolving the crisis by ending all forms of violence concurrently and by going to the dialogue table which is open to all those who wish to end this crisis through dialogue constitute the answer to all these questions.
H. Sabbagh
SYRIA 360° INTERNATIONALIST 