DON'TMAKE'IRAQ'MISTAKE TWICE:RUSSIATELLS US
MOSCOW, June 14, 2013 (AFP) - Russia said Friday that US data on the Syrian regime's alleged use of chemical weapons was “unconvincing”, and warned Washington against repeating the mistake it made when invading Iraq after falsely accusing Saddam Hussein of stocking weapons of mass destruction.
The Kremlin's top foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov also said the US decision to provide military aid to Syrian rebels would damage international efforts to end a conflict that has left tens of thousands dead.
The Syrian war will take centre stage next week in Northern Ireland where global leaders --including Russian President Vladimir Putin-- gather for a G8 summit.
Ushakov said US officials had recently presented Russia with new information about the alleged use of chemical weapons against rebels by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
“What was presented by the Americans does not look convincing to us,” he told reporters.
“I would not want to make any parallels, I would not want to believe that this data can be similar to the situation with the vial that (US) secretary of state Colin Powell brandished at the famous Security Council meeting.”
The head of the Russian lower house of parliament's foreign affairs committee went even further than Ushakov, bluntly accusing Washington of making up claims that Assad had used chemical weapons against the rebels.