Assad also said Syria's military had given up all chemical weapons, AFP said on its Twitter account, quoting remarks from an interview with the Syrian president. Kenneth D. Ward, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPWC), insisted Syrian forces — "abetted by Russia's continuing efforts to bury the truth" — still possess and use chemical weapons. A man breathes through an oxygen mask as another receives treatment, after a gas attack in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria, on April 4. (Ammar Abdullah/Reuters)Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 under severe international pressure after a deadly chemical attack on a Damascus suburb. Assad's government told the organization it had a 1,300-ton stockpile of chemical weapons and chemicals used to make them.

Source: CBC News April 13, 2017 13:25 UTC