Syria chemical attack a ‘fabrication’ says Assad

PRIME Minister Theresa May has said Russia is on the “wrong side of this argument” by failing to condemn a deadly chemical attack in Syria.

World leaders had called for an international probe into the attack in Khan Sheikhoun last week, which prompted a retaliatory US missile strike on a Syrian airbase.

Mrs May said it was “highly likely” the attack had been carried out by the Syrian regime, which has repeatedly denied involvement.

She told the BBC during a visit to Sandhurst: “Russia is on the wrong side of this argument but we are willing to work with Russia to bring an end to the conflict in Syria, to bring about a political solution in Syria, but that political solution has to be without Assad.”

British scientists have said a toxic gas known as sarin was used in the attack on a rebel-held town, she said.

Mrs May said: “They are very clear that sarin or a sarin-like substance was used and as our ambassador to the United Nations made clear yesterday, like the United States, we believe it is highly likely that attack was carried out by the Assad regime.

“Apart from anything else, we believe it is only the regime that has the capability to take such an attack and make such an attack.”

Syrian President Bashar Assad insisted that his military was not responsible for the incident and claimed the attack was a “fabrication” to justify the US missile strike.

He told the AFP news agency: “There was no order to make any attack.

“We don’t have any chemical weapons, we gave up our arsenal a few years ago.

“Even if we have them, we wouldn’t use them. We have never used our chemical arsenal in our history.”

He claimed the US and the West were “hand in glove with the terrorists”.

“They fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext for the attack,” he said.

Russia has vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution which would require the regime to provide detailed information about air operations and immediate access to air bases.

Meanwhile, the US military admitted a misdirected airstrike by the USled coalition earlier this week killed 18 allied fighters battling the Islamic State group in northern Syria.

US Central Command said coalition aircraft were given the wrong coordinates by their partner forces, the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, for a strike intended to target IS militants south of their Tabqa stronghold, near the extremists’ de facto capital, Raqqa.

The strike hit a Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) position instead, killing 18. Central Command said the strike was launched on Tuesday. It was not clear which air force was behind the strike.

The SDF acknowledged the strike yesterday, saying a number of its fighters were killed and wounded.

The SDF-linked Hawar News Agency reported the group was holding funerals for 17 of its fighters in the border town of Tal al-Abyad, though it did not link them to the strike.

An activist-run group, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, says three days of mourning have been declared for the town.