Russian Federation may have tampered with the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria’s Douma, the U.S. envoy to the global watchdog said on Monday, urging the body to condemn the continuing use of banned chemical weapons.
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The site visit came hours after reports of more global air strikes on Syrian military installations.
“This is the latest conjecture of our British colleagues”, said Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister.
“What I can tell you is the president has made it very clear that when it comes to weapons of mass destruction, we have no tolerance for it”, Haley said.
The latest attack came a year after the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikun in northwestern Syria was hit by an air strike following which USA warships in the Mediterranean fired 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase.
Haley said the three USA goals for accomplishing its mission were making sure chemical weapons are not used in a way that could harm US national interests, defeating IS militants, and having a good vantage point to watch what Iran is doing.
As far as the permits are concerned, the United Nations says the inspectors have already been given all the permits they require.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister said the delay was due to U.S. air strikes.
“In order to do that, Russian Federation has asked this council to focus its attention on the one part of Syria where the Assad regime isn’t pummeling civilians to death with barrel bombs or banned chemical weapons”, she said.
Britain’s delegation to the OPCW accused Russian Federation and the Assad regime of stopping inspectors from reaching Douma.
IN PHOTO: Demonstrators take part in a protest organised by the Stop the War coalition against the British government carrying out air strikes on targets in Syria.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, writing in The Guardian, said: “The military action at the weekend was legally questionable”.
Critics have complained that the strikes pre-empted the probe by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons into the alleged attack on April 7.
He denied that Russian Federation was hampering the mission and suggested the approval was held up because of the Western air strikes.
The punitive attacks early on Saturday were launched before a fact-finding team from the OPCW was able to enter Douma and begin its fieldwork.
On the other hand, Bashar al Assad told a group of visiting Russian lawmakers that the Western missile strikes were an act of aggression, according to Russian news agencies. The people of Syria deserve our help.
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“On Wednesday is when we plan the arrival of the OPCW experts”, Kirillov said at a news conference in The Hague.
