Syria gives Russia ‘new evidence’ rebels behind chem attack

The Syrian regime has handed Russia
new materials implicating rebels in a chemical
attack outside Damascus on August 21, Russian
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said
Wednesday after talks in Damascus. “The corresponding materials were handed to the
Russian side. We were told that they were
evidence that the rebels are implicated in the
chemical attack,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying
by Russian news agencies after talks with Syrian
Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem late Tuesday. He said that Russia would “examine the Syrian
materials implicating the rebels with the utmost
seriousness.” To the fury of the West, Russia has repeatedly
expressed suspicion that the chemical attack was
a “provocation” staged by the rebels with the aim
of attracting Western military intervention in the
conflict. Ryabkov also said Russia was disappointed with
the UN report into the chemical weapons attack
published this week, saying it was selective and
had ignored other episodes. “Without a full picture… we cannot describe the
character of the conclusions as anything other
than politicised, biased and one-sided,” he said. Ryabkov is on a visit to Damascus to present the
Syrian regime with the results of the agreement
between Moscow and Washington reached in
Geneva at the weekend to rid Syria of its chemical
weapons. He said he emphasised to Muallem the
importance of the Syrian side “strictly and swiftly”
handing over details of its chemical weapons
arsenal to the Organisation for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons, the first step in the
agreement. The Russia-US agreement is aimed at warding off
the threat of US-led military action as retribution
for the chemical attack, which the West blames
squarely on the regime. The Syrian ambassador to Moscow, Riyad Haddad,
told the Interfax news agency that Ryabkov was
expected to have a meeting Wednesday with
President Bashar al-Assad. Ryabkov said he assured the Syrian side that there
was “no basis” for a UN Security Council
resolution on the chemical weapons agreement
to invoke Chapter VII of the UN Charter that allows
the use of force and tough sanctions. He said this could only be considered if the UN
Security Council was able to confirm violations of
the convention on chemical weapons. “This is a
hypothetical situation.” “It is especially important that some kind of
political interests do not again appear, especially
in New York (at the UN Security Council),” he
added.