Syria Says Rebels Used Chemical Weapons
Syria says rebels use chemical weapon in "dangerous escalation"
Syria's government and rebels traded accusations of a chemical attack Tuesday on a northern village near Aleppo. However a U.S. official said there was no evidence of any such attack. [Source]March 19, 2013
Reuters - Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi accused rebels of firing a chemical weapon in the northern province of Aleppo on Tuesday which he said killed 16 people and wounded 86, most of them critically.
Zoabi said Turkey and Qatar, which have supported rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, bore "legal, moral and political responsibility" for the attack, state television reported.
It quoted Zoabi as saying the rebels fired a rocket from the Nairab district of southeast Aleppo city into the town of Khan al-Assal, 5 miles southwest of the city, calling it a "dangerous escalation".
US okay with France, UK arming Syria's rebels
March 18, 2013AP - The Obama administration won't hold back Britain, France or anyone else from arming Syria's rebels.
"The United States does not stand in the way of other countries that made a decision to provide arms, whether it's France, or Britain or others."France's president stated the two countries' intentions last week.
Kerry cites an imbalance in the fighting. President Bashar Assad's regime is attacking with tanks, scud missiles and aircraft — which the rebels don't have. And Kerry says Iran, Hezbollah and al-Qaida-related elements are helping Assad.
While al-Qaida has clearly backed Syria's rebels, it's unclear how it or its allies are supporting Assad.
June 13, 2012
AFP - Russia was supplying "anti-air defence systems" to Damascus in a deal that "in no way violates international laws," Lavrov told a news conference during a brief visit to Iran.
AFP - Russia was supplying "anti-air defence systems" to Damascus in a deal that "in no way violates international laws," Lavrov told a news conference during a brief visit to Iran.
"That contrasts with what the United States is doing with the opposition, which is providing arms to the Syrian opposition which are being used against the Syrian government," he said, in remarks translated from Russian into Farsi by an official interpreter.
It was the first time Moscow has directly pointed the finger at Washington.
Previously, it had said unidentified "foreign powers" were arming
Syria's opposition.
Lavrov's accusation followed a charge by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday that she had information Russia was sending to Syria "attack helicopters ... which will escalate the conflict quite dramatically." Asked in Tehran about the helicopter allegation, Lavrov said only that Moscow was giving Damascus "conventional weapons" related to air defence and asserted that the deal complied with international law.
Russia's deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told reporters last month that Moscow believed "it would be wrong to leave the Syrian government without the means for self-defence." Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said at the same news conference with Lavrov that Tehran and Moscow were "very close" on the Syria issue. Western and Arab nations, he said, "are sending weapons to Syria and forces to Syria, and are not allowing the reforms promised by the Syrian president to be applied."
Reports in Iran allege that Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United States are arming Syria's rebels – termed "terrorists" by Damascus – while US officials claim Iran is giving arms and military advisers to Syria's regime.
Some observers fear the conflict, which the UN's chief peacekeeper agrees now resembles a civil war, could blow up into a struggle between forces helped by outside nations.
"There is a real risk of it sliding into a proxy war as certain states support the regime or 'the opposition'," one Western diplomat told AFP, speaking on condition on anonymity.Monitors say at least 14,100 people have been killed in the 15-month uprising against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"The conflict in Syria certainly appears to be getting more brutal – and not just on one side," the diplomat warned.
Russia came under fierce criticism from Western and Arab countries for vetoing two UN Security Council resolutions that would have sanctioned Assad for his use of force. Since then, it has sought to distance itself from Assad while continuing to support his regime.
"We do not support any individual or government, we support the people of Syria," Lavrov said.Moscow is now trying to organise an international conference on Syria that would include several nations with influence over the conflict, including Iran. The United States, Britain and France, though, object to Iran taking part.
"We want the support of all the players," Lavrov said.
"All sides in the conflict need to stop operations ... Any player with leverage should apply pressure to stop the violence and facilitate negotiations," he said.
