MESOP NEWS DOCUMENTATION : Assad Regime’s “Toxic Material” Reply to Its Guilt Over Khan Sheikhoun Sarin Attack

By Scott Lucas – eaworldview – 20 Oct 2017 – Regime responds to UN through unsupported claims in State media

Facing a UN report confirming its guilt over an April sarin attack on Khan Sheikhoun in northwest Syria, the Assad regime has declared that “terrorists” have depots with “toxic materials” in the area.

State news agency SANA announced on Sunday that the “Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization possess [sic] depots and hideouts which contain toxic weapons in a number of villages and towns, particularly in Ma’arat Misrin , 9 km north of Idleb city”. The site provided no evidence but claimed “local sources” had provided the information, including that the terrorists are manufacturing rockets to carry the toxic weapons. SANA also falsely claimed, recycling Russian propaganda, that “the US Department of State admitted that Ahrar al-Sham terrorist organization possesses chemical weapons in Idleb”.

Russian State outlet Sputnik is mirroring the article.

On Thursday the UN and Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons issued a report concluding that the Assad regime had carried out a sarin attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib Province, killing at least 92 people and wounding hundreds. The report — based on satellite imagery, samples, munition fragments, testing of victims, and witnesses — found no support for a series of conflicting Russian and Assad regime arguments that denied the attack or tried to blame it on rebels.One of the false Russian-regime assertions was that a regime warplane had bombed a terrorist warehouse filled with chemical stocks. The UN-OPCW report concluded that no such warehouse existed and that it was a medical center, treating victims of the sarin attack, which was struck.Continuing to pursue the line on Sunday SANA declared, “The sources warned against using toxic materials by Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists against the civilians in an attempt to accuse the Syrian Arab Army.” www.mesop.de