Syria threatens to use chemical weapons

Assad turns down offer of 'safe exit'

BEIRUT — Syria acknowledged for the first time on Monday that it had chemical and biological weapons, saying they could be used if the country faced foreign intervention.

International pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has escalated dramatically in the last week with a rebel offensive in the two biggest cities and a devastating bomb attack which killed four members of his inner circle in Damascus.

Assad’s forces have launched fierce counter-offensives, reflecting his determination to hold on to power even at great cost and he has dismissed an Arab offer to grant him a safe exit in return for a swift step down.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said the army would not use chemical weapons to crush rebels, but they could be used against forces from outside the country.

“Any chemical or bacterial weapons will never be used ... during the crisis in Syria regardless of the developments,” Makdissi said.

“These weapons are stored and secured by Syrian military forces and under its direct supervision and will never be used unless Syria faces external aggression.”

Damascus has not signed a 1992 international convention that bans the use, production or stockpiling of chemical weap- ons, but officials in the past have denied that it had any stockpiles.

As violence escalates in Syria, insurgents have said they fear Assad’s forces will resort to nonconventional weapons as they seek to claw back rebel gains across the country.

Western and Israeli countries have also expressed fears that chemical weapons could fall into the hands of militant groups as Assad’s authority erodes.

Defying Arab foreign ministers who on Sunday offered Assad a “safe exit” if he stepped down swiftly, the Syrian leader has waged a counter- attack in the capital to defeat rebels district by district.

Arab League ministers meeting in Doha urged the opposition and the rebel Free Syrian Army to form a transitional government, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim alThani told a news conference in Doha.

Makdissi condemned calls for Assad to step down at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Qatar over the weekend, calling it a “flagrant intervention” in Syria’s internal affairs.

“We regret that the Arab League stooped to this immoral level in dealing with a founding member instead of helping Syria,” he said.