US to claim reported ‘chemical attack’ in Syria was false flag
Ten days after the Syrian regime and Russia accused rebels of carrying out a chemical weapons attack in Aleppo, the Trump administration was poised yesterday to release a statement discrediting those allegations.
Washington will describe a tear gas attack that Syrian regime forces themselves carried out in the area.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that the White House would release a statement concluding that the November 24 incident was essentially a falseflag operation by the regime and Russia.
One diplomatic source and a Syrian opposition source in contact with the administration confirmed to plans for such a statement.
The US will say that the material used in the attack was not chlorine but tear gas.
It will reference “credible information that pro-regime forces probably used it against Syrian civilians in north western Aleppo”.
It will reportedly read that both Damascus and Moscow were “blaming the attack on opposition and extremist groups to undermine confidence in the ceasefire in Idlib”.
Russia and Assad forces carried out air strikes in the area after claiming a “toxic gas” attack, effectively breaching the Idlib ceasefire agreed to with Turkey last September.
The White House statement will also include technical analysis of the data without detailing US evidence.
These developments come as US and Russian tensions escalate over a host of issues, including Syria and Ukraine.
On Monday, US special representative to Syria James Jeffrey accused Russia of “playing a dangerous game accusing us of playing a dangerous game”.
Mr Jeffrey said the US “cannot corroborate any chemical weapons attack based on that incident”.
“The Damascus regime, and particularly the Russians and the Iranians, want to see what I call the three Rs: refugees essentially pushed back to Syria; reconstruction aid, perhaps up to 400 billion according to the UN, to flow into the country from the West – us, Europe, international organisations; and the regime to be recognised by the world as legitimate.
“None of those things are happening.”
He reiterated his call for Russia to finish the work on the constitutional committee after the recent failure in Astana.
Mr Jeffrey said “the Russians, the Iranians, and the Turks would be able to finalise the third list of members to this constitutional committee, and that was a primary goal of the Astana meeting last Thursday. “They didn’t succeed.” The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was scheduled to hold a closed meeting at the United Nations yesterday.