Mr. Assad’s government signed that treaty less than four years ago and agreed to give up its chemical arsenal after the first major chemical weapons attack in Syria, which left hundreds dead near Damascus. Western governments accused the Syrian military of carrying out that attack, in August 2013, in which sarin was identified as the poison. It led President Barack Obama to threaten a direct military intervention in the conflict — an option he abandoned when Mr. Assad agreed to sign the chemical weapons ban. Advertisement Continue reading the main storyHis statement echoed a Russian account of what had happened that witnesses and Western leaders say is contradicted by the evidence. Advertisement Continue reading the main storyMr. Moallem asserted that Al Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, commonly called Al Nusra Front, and its main jihadist rival, the Islamic State, harbor illicit chemical weapons in Syria.

Source: New York Times April 06, 2017 14:56 UTC