Chemical warfare fears

GENEVA: The UN has called on Russia, Iran and Turkey to forestall a battle in Syria’s Idlib province which would affect millions of civilians and could see both militants and the government potentially using chlorine as a chemical weapon.

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said there was a high concentration of foreign fighters in Idlib, including an estimated 10 000 fighters designated by the UN as terrorists, who he said belonged to the al-Nusra Front and al-Qaeda.

There could be no justification to use heavy weapons against them in densely populated areas, he said. Miscalculations could lead to unintended consequences, including the possible use of chemical weapons. “Avoiding the potential use of chemical weapons is crucial,” De Mistura said in Geneva.

“Both the government and al-Nusra have the capability to produce weaponised chlorine.”

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow yesterday, said: “We are at the final stage of solving the crisis in Syria and liberating our whole territory from terrorism.”

“I assure you we do not have chemical weapons and are not able to use them,” he added, according to Syrian state news agency Sana.

Idlib province is the last major rebel-held area in Syria, serving as what the UN called a “dumping ground” for fighters and civilians evacuated from other battles.

It is one of the areas that Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to “de-escalate” last year at a series of talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

But a source said Russia’s ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was preparing a phased offensive there.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said militants in Idlib had to be liquidated. De Mistura urged humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians. “The lives of 2.9 million people are at stake.” – Reuters