Moscow Warns Against 'Fabricated' Chemical Attacks in Syria's Idlib
Arab World
Moscow - Raed Jabr
Moscow again warned Tuesday from fabricated chemical attacks that militants and the White Helmets are preparing in Syria’s Idlib. Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that several sources have confirmed that militants from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the White Helmets organization are planning on attacking settlements in the Idlib de-escalation zone in order to stage incidents of airstrikes with the use of chemical weapons. Later on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also commented on the issue after meeting with his Icelandic counterpart Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson, saying that Moscow received reports of impending provocations in Idlib. “We receive these messages regularly. In most cases, this information is confirmed. We, together with the Syrian government, are making this public, and this is exactly why these provocations have not yet been implemented, but we know that they are being prepared,” the FM said. Lavrov said provocateurs from the so-called White Helmets, created and led by British special services with the support of a number of Western countries, including the US, are taking part in the preparations. According to the Ministry, residents of the Sarmada settlement had seen militants arriving at the town early this month in three trucks that were loaded with containers with chemicals as well as professional video-making equipment and pieces of Russian artillery. "It is being planned to make fake videos of destruction caused by airstrikes and artillery shooting at civil targets and the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Idlib province,” the Russian FM statement said. It said that militants planned to publish those fake videos on social media to be used to blame the Syrian regime and Russia over their alleged actions against civilians. The Russian warning precede an expected confrontation between Russian and Western parties during the yearly meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), whose state parties are expected to issue, for the first time, a report defining the responsibility for the chemical attacks in Syria. However, Moscow already rejected the results of this report, accusing western parties of politicizing the investigations. “We very much expect that both the director-general of this organization [Fernando Arias] and all other employees will be strongly guided by the principle of impartiality and not receiving specific instructions from any country. So far, we doubt that these principles are respected by the OPCW leadership,” Lavrov said on Tuesday.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2010391/moscow-warns-against-fabricated-chemical-attacks-syrias-idlib
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