Syria: Foreign and Expatriates Ministry: Syria Won't Use Chemical Weapons, If It Possesses Any, Whatever the Circumstances

Foreign and Expatriates Ministry: Syria Won't Use Chemical Weapons, If It Possesses Any, Whatever the Circumstances Dec 09, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA)- Syria on Saturday reaffirmed that it will not use chemical weapons, if it possesses any, whatever the circumstances as it is defending its people against terrorism supported by known countries, citing the USA on top. Syria's reaffirmation came in two identical letters addressed by the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry to the Chairman of the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary General. "The U.S. administration has consistently worked over the past year to launch a campaign of allegations on the possibility that Syria could use chemical weapons during the current crisis," said the Ministry. It reiterated Syria's openly repeated stress through the diplomatic frameworks that it "will not use chemical weapons, if it possessesany, whatever the circumstances because it is defending its people against terrorism supported by known countries, above all is the USA." "What raises concerns regarding this news circulated by the media is our serious fear that some of countries backing terrorism and terrorists might provide the armed terrorist groups with chemical weapons and claim that it was the Syrian government which did use the weapons," said the Ministry in its letters. It referred in this context to information revealed by the Turkish Yurt newspaper which said that members from al-Qaeda are manufacturing chemical weapons at a laboratory near the Turkish city of Gaziantep, and that they have threatened to use them against the Syrian civilians. The letters also made reference to the Turkish newspaper indicating footages posted on the internet in which terrorists appear making poisonous gas from chemical materials which al-Qaeda got from a Turkish company and which were tested on living creatures. "Those countries launching the campaign against Syria had better follow up on that act and hold those terrorists and the parties which helped them get the chemical materials to account," the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said. It pointed out that the Syrian government, out of its care for its people's lives, had asked the UN Supervision Mission to visit, inspect and calculate the stocks of a private sector chlorine processing plant, located to the east of Aleppo city, after information that the terrorist groups were then planning to take hold of it. The Supervision Mission however could not do this because the terrorists opened fire on its members as they were trying to visit the plant, the Ministry added. "The terrorist groups recently took hold of the plant which includes tons of the poisonous chlorine following the latest U.S.-Western campaign, with all the risks this issue implies," it said. The Ministry expressed Syria's warning that the terrorist groups might resort to using chemical weapons against the Syrian people, and its denunciation of the international community's inaction to deal with the developments after the terrorist groups recently took hold of a Chlorine processing plant to the east of Aleppo city. "Syria also denounces not holding the supporters of the terrorist groups to account according to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions," the letters added. They slammed the hostile campaign against Syria as being characterized by the absence of the moral dimension, saying that "countries which used these or other similar weapons like the US, are not worthy to launch such a campaign, especially that [the US] used the pretext of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to justify its invasion and occupation of this Arab country in 2003. The Foreign and Expatriates Ministry highlighted that Syria has scores of times made it clear that it will not use chemical weapons, if they exist, against its people under any circumstance, and stressed its commitment to its legal obligations according to the agreements and protocols it signed. "Moreover, the Ministry added, "Syria submitted by the end of 2003 a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC)Weapons." However, the Ministry said, the US and the countries following it hindered the draft resolution and prevented the Security Council from adopting it. It went on saying that Syria was not surprised by the U.S. move a few days ago to foil the UN efforts to hold a conference to establish a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, which was due to be held by the end of 2012. "All of that was in defense of Israel, the only party in the region which has not signed the WMD agreements," it added. The Ministry concluded its letters by saying that "such campaign doesn't work with Syria which has always adhered to is independence and sovereignty," stressing that these media campaigns cannot mislead the Syrian people or the international public opinion, which has started to realize the reality of the conspiracies hatched against Syria and the real reasons behind continuing the shedding of the Syrian blood for which the terrorist groups and those supporting them are responsible in front of history and the nations. http://www.sana-syria.com/eng/21/2012/12/09/456206.htm R. Raslan/H. Said