Skip to main content

Syrian government to blame for April sarin attack: U.N. report

Syrian government to blame for April sarin attack: U.N. report
Rodrigo Campos
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad is to blame for a chemical attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens of people last April, according to a report sent to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday.
FILE PHOTO: A man breathes through an oxygen mask as another one receives treatments, after what rescue workers described as a suspected gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib, Syria April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah/File Photo
“The Syrian Arab Republic is responsible for the release of sarin at Khan Sheikhoun on 4 April 2017,” the report from the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) said.
The attack prompted a U.S. missile strike against a Syrian air base which Washington said was used to launch the strike.
“Time and again, we see independent confirmation of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime,” Nikki Haley, the United States’ U.N. ambassador, said in a statement.“The Security Council must send a clear message that the use of chemical weapons by anyone will not be tolerated, and must fully support the work of the impartial investigators.”
The report also said ISIS was to blame for the use of sulfur mustard in the Syrian town of Umm Hawsh on Sept. 15 and 16, 2016.
Men ride a motorbike past a hazard sign at a site hit by an airstrike on Tuesday in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib, Syria April 5, 2017. The hazard sign reads, "Danger, unexploded ammunition". REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah
The JIM was unanimously created by the 15-member U.N. Security Council in 2015 and renewed in 2016 for another year. Its mandate is due to expire in mid-November, and Russia on Tuesday vetoed a proposal to further extend its mandate.
Russian ambassador to the U.N. Vassily Nebenzia said earlier this week Russia would consider revisiting the mandate extension after Thursday’s report is discussed.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China hopes that the conclusions of any investigation have a basis in conclusive proof and are professional, objective and fair.
“The continuing use of chemical weapons, including by non-State actors, is deeply disturbing,” said the report.
“If such use, in spite of the prohibition by the international community, is not stopped now, a lack of consequences will surely encourage others to follow.”
The JIM has already found Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015.
Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States. The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons during the country’s more than six-year civil war.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

French FM Visits Iran to Talk Ballistic Missiles and Syria

French FM Visits Iran to Talk Ballistic Missiles and Syria05 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 05 Mar - The French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, has arrived in Iran to talk with the country's president Hassan Rouhani, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, according to Iranian state TV. Talks are expected to focus on Iran’s involvement in the Syrian Civil war and Iran's ballistic missile program, which both Le Drian and French President Emmanuel Macron have criticized Iran's missile program in recent weeks, with Le Drian stating that Iran's ballistic missile capacity worried France “enormously". In response to Iranian claims that their ballistic missile program is peaceful, Le Drian said: "Having such tools is not uniquely defensive, given the distance they can reach." The French Foreign Ministry even issued a statement ahead of the trip, which said Le Drian ...
Post a Comment
Read more
WE SHOULD LISTEN CLOSELY TO IRAN Created: 26 January 2018 Iran Maryam Rajavi NCRI PMOI/MEK Human rights Protests United States Opinion JCPOA Paris Middle East Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei (Photo by Supreme Leader Press Office / Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) By Heshmat Alavi As the world continues to debate the recent Iranian outburst of protests, its "lack of leadership" as they claim, and the road ahead, there is no doubt in the minds of senior Iranian regime officials over who led, and continues to lead, this latest uprising that continues to rattle the very pillars of the mullahs' rule.Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei made his thoughts crystal clear.“The incidents were organized” and carried out by the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), he said although using a different term. “The [MEK] had prepared for this months ago” and “the [MEK’s] media outlets had called for it.” The MEK is best known ...
Post a Comment
Read more
STABILIZING LEBANON IS IRAN'S WAY OF HELPING HEZBOLLAH TAKE OVER Created: 26 December 2017 Iran LEBANON Hezbollah violation of UN Security Council Resolution Asaib Ahl al-Haqq Qais al-Khazali Saad Hariri Despite issuing threats through its proxies, Iran shares the international community's interest in Lebanon's near-term stability, but its motivations are hardly benevolent. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy- December 20, 2017 - Earlier this month, Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Iranian-backed Iraqi militia Asaib Ahl al-Haqq, showed up in southern Lebanon to issue threats against Israel alongside fellow Shia militants from Hezbollah. At first glance, highly publicized video of the incident seemed to signal that Tehran might expand its military activities from Syria into Lebanon. As he gazed along the border, Khazali announced that his militia was "fully prepared and ready to stand as one with the Lebanese people and with the Palestinian cause." In rhet...
Post a Comment
Read more