‘Chemical attack footage in Syria was all staged,’ claims Russia’s Irish ambassador
THE Russian ambassador to Ireland has claimed last week’s horrifying chemical attacks in Syria were ‘definitely staged’.
Speaking at the Russian Embassy in Dublin yesterday, Ambassador Yury Filatov claimed the photos and videos of distressed civilians and children were fabricated.
Mr Filatov said that, following the Russian military’s investigation into the alleged chemical attack in Douma, ‘as far as we can see, there was no attack in Syria’.
The ambassador also claimed that a photograph showing a disttressed ‘bloodied girl’, which he said was carried by news agencies around the world, was staged and ‘she was not hurt’.
‘She was manipulated to sit for a photo with make-up – the photo to be used in these circumstances. That’s nothing new,’ he said.
Speaking to the Mail, security analyst Dr Tom Clonan said: ‘The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has carried out investigations in Syria in the past and found the Syrian Government did use chemical weapons on their own people.’
He added the only way to know where the attack came from, and if it happened at all, will be in the results from the OPCW. Mr Filatov said video footage taken in a hospital showing people running and being treated with water to alleviate the chemical toxins, was also staged.
‘We have witnesses from the hospital where the famous video was shot. The normal life in the emergency room was going on, people were being treated, then all of a sudden people rushed in and shouted “chemical attack” and starting to pour water.
‘People were in a panic. Two or three other people made footage of the whole commotion that was immediately transferred to YouTube and media networks,’ he said.
Commenting on the Russian ambassador’s claims that the attack was staged, Dr Clonan said: ‘Theoretically yes, something could be staged. But the best indicator for the probability of Assad involvement is in previous investigations which have found that he has done it.’
Over the weekend, US, French and British forces launched missiles targeted at three chemical weapons facilities in Syria in response to the suspected gas attack on April 7.
The ambassador called the strike ‘reckless’ and an ‘act of aggression’, alluding to Russia’s loss of trust in the West.
‘We’re losing the last bit of trust we have had with our Western partners. It’s not lost completely,
‘We’re losing last bit of trust in West’
but I can see us losing that in the process, which is certainly a very dangerous development,’ he said.
Mr Filatov said: ‘We certainly condemn that in most resolute terms. The [air strikes] we have witnessed certainly brought the whole situation to the brink of a wider conflict which is in nobody’s interests.’
He then responded to suggestions Russia tampered with evidence to cover up the attack, calling the claims ‘absolutely ridiculous’.
Mr Filatov denied that Russia was behind any cyber-attacks calling claims ‘simply a lie’ and ‘not the kind of behaviour or attitude of Russia’.
The ambassador went on to say that people and the media depict Russia as being an ‘overall evil empire’ and ‘the source of all evil in the world’, which he called a ‘ridiculous concept’. ‘Unfortunately, there is a lot of propaganda and misinformation in relation to all sides of this conflict,’ Dr Clonan said. ‘I think the people who are suffering most in all of this are the Syrian people – ordinary civilians.’
Yesterday, the Russian embassy announced that Moscow has set up a ‘National Association of International Information Security’ to ‘contribute to international information security and make the information space a secure environment’.
There were conflicting reports last night about whether international inspectors had entered the Syrian town of Douma where the alleged chemical attack was carried out earlier this month – following delays by Syrian and Russian authorities.
The fact-finding mission from the OPCW is investigating reports that government forces launched the April 7 chemical attack in the final stages of their campaign to retake the town from rebels.
Syrian activists say the alleged attack killed more than 40 people.
British Prime Minister Theresa May says Syria and Russia, whose forces now control the town east of Damascus, are trying to cover up evidence.
The Associated Press spoke to survivors and witnesses who described being hit by gas. Several said a strange smell started spreading and people screamed: ‘It’s chlorine! It’s chlorine!’
The US and France say they have evidence that President Bashar Assad’s forces used poison gas in the attack, but they have not provided any evidence, even after Saturday’s punitive missile strikes.
Douma was the last rebel-held town near Damascus, and the target of a government offensive in February and March that killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands.