Russia claims there is NO EVIDENCE of a chemical attack in Syria, says the atrocity that killed 40 could be FAKED and blasts ‘Israeli’ revenge bombing raid as ‘dangerous’
Dozens were killed and many left gasping for air after apparent attack in Douma
Trump warned Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad there would be a ‘big price to pay’
Russia called attack claims a ‘provocation’ with its experts ‘finding no chemicals’
Global watchdog is launching a probe into the alleged poison attack on Saturday
Comes as Israel was accused of launching deadly strike on Syrian airfield today
Kremlin, which has backed Assad regime, hit out at the ‘dangerous development’
By JULIAN ROBINSON
DAILYMAIL.COM
9 April 2018
Russia has claimed there is no evidence of a chemical attack in Syria and that the atrocity that killed 40 over the weekend may even have been staged by rebels to pin the blame on Damascus.
Dozens were killed and many were left gasping for air and foaming at the mouth in the apparent attack on rebel-held Douma in the eastern suburbs of the Syrian capital.
US President Donald Trump warned Syria’s ‘animal’ dictator Bashar al-Assad there would be a ‘big price to pay’ as it hit out at Putin and Iran for propping up the regime.
But Russian Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov today described reports of a chemical attack as a ‘provocation’, claiming the country’s own experts had visited the site in Douma and found no traces of chlorine.
Lavrov also said a strike on a Syrian airbase in the early hours of this morning, that Damascus and Moscow have blamed on Israel, was a ‘very dangerous development’. Fourteen were killed, including three Iranian fighters, when missiles hit the T-4 airbase.
It comes as a global watchdog working to eradicate chemical weapons revealed it is investigating the latest poison gas outrage in Syria and as U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis raised the possibility of military action against Syria if it was proved to have carried out the artocity.
Mattis had been asked if the U.S. was capable of striking President Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons facilities.
When asked if he could rule out taking actions, like launching airstrikes against Assad, Mattis said: ‘I don’t rule out anything right now.’
Meanwhile, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said today it has ‘made a preliminary analysis of the reports of the alleged use of chemical weapons immediately after they were issued,’ said director general Ahmet Uzumcu.
A fact-finding team was now gathering more information ‘to establish whether chemical weapons were used,’ he added in a statement, expressing his ‘grave concern’ about the situation.
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