– Russia gives UNSC proof of chemical weapons use by militants (PressTV, Sep 11, 2013):
Russia has passed proof of the use of chemical weapons by the militants inside Syria to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).“There are suspicions that the militants have used these [chemical] weapons repeatedly,” said the Head of Duma international affairs committee Alexei Pushkov on Wednesday, adding “Russia has just passed existing proof to the UN Security Council.”
He also said that the militants have used chemical weapons near Aleppo in March, adding that Carla Del Ponte, who is a leading United Nations investigator, has also acknowledged it.
On May 5, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria said it could not find any evidence that the Syrian government forces have used chemical weapons against militants.
“This [evidence] was [regarding the] use [of the chemical weapons] on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities,” said Del Ponte.
Similarly, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Tuesday that Tehran has provided the UN with conclusive evidence of the use of chemical weapons by the militants in Syria.
“Iran is in possession of strong evidence regarding the militant chemical attack in Syria and has handed on the evidence to the United Nations,” he said, adding “Last December, for example, we received news that two Sarin gas containers were being transferred to Syria. The containers were sent from an Arab country to a neighboring country, where it triggered security and political reactions.”
The developments come after the US used the issue of chemical weapons use in the Arab country as a pretext to launch an attack on the country.
The war rhetoric against Syria first gained momentum on August 21, when the militants operating inside the Middle Eastern country and its foreign-backed opposition claimed that over a thousand people had been killed in a government chemical attack on suburban Damascus.
The Syrian government categorically rejected the accusation.