The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Assad linked to sarin gas use
Chemical analysis of samples taken from a deadly sarin gas attack in Syria shows the nerve agent used “bears the signature” of president Bashar Assad’s regime and that it was responsible, France’s foreign minister has said.
Jean-Marc Ayrault said yesterday that France now knows “from sure sources” that “the manufacturing process of the sarin that was sampled is typical of the method developed in Syrian laboratories”.
He added that “this method bears the signature of the regime and that is what allows us to establish its responsibility in this attack”.
Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said the air strike that the United States launched on a Syrian military base this month damages the prospects of a political settlement for the country.