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| President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks with The Associated Press in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 6, 2017. Peskov tells The Associated Press that Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar Assad is not unconditional, with Putin's Spokesman talking just days after a suspected chemical weapons attack on a Syrian rebel-held province. |
BEIRUT
(AP) -- President Bashar Assad's government came under mounting
international pressure Thursday after a chemical attack in northern
Syria, with even key ally Russia saying its support is not
unconditional.
Turkey, meanwhile, said samples
from victims of Tuesday's attack, which killed more than 80 people in
the town of Khan Sheikhoun, indicate they were exposed to sarin, a
highly toxic nerve agent.
Syria rejected the accusations, and Moscow warned against apportioning blame until an investigation has been carried out.
The
United States said it hopes for a vote late Thursday on a U.N. Security
Council resolution that would condemn the chemical attack. President
Donald Trump hinted at military action and Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson said Assad should no longer have a role in governing the
Syrian people.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
said in an interview with The Associated Press that "unconditional
support is not possible in this current world."
But
he added that "it is not correct to say that Moscow can convince Mr.
Assad to do whatever is wanted in Moscow. This is totally wrong."
Russia
has provided military support for the Syrian government since September
2015, turning the balance of power in Assad's favor. Moscow has used
its veto power at the Security Council on several occasions since the
civil war began six years ago to prevent sanctions against Damascus.
The
two countries "enjoy a relationship of cooperation, of exchange of
views and full mutual support," said Peskov, a spokesman for President
Vladimir Putin. Assad and his army are "the only real power in Syria
that can resist terrorists on the ground," he said.
Syria
maintains it didn't use chemical weapons, blaming opposition fighters
for stockpiling the chemicals. Russia's Defense Ministry said the toxic
agents were released when a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel chemical
weapons arsenal and munitions factory on the eastern outskirts of Khan
Sheikhoun.
"I stress, once again, that the
Syrian Arab Army did not and will not use such weapons even against the
terrorists who are targeting our people," Syria's Foreign Minister Walid
Moallem told reporters in Damascus.
Trump
said the attack crossed "many, many lines," and put the blame squarely
on Assad's forces. Speaking Thursday on Air Force One, Trump would not
discuss what the U.S. might do in response but hinted at military
action. He said the attack "shouldn't have happened, and it shouldn't be
allowed to happen."
Asked if Assad should remain in power, he said that "he's there and I guess he's running things so something should happen."
On Wednesday, his U.N. envoy Nikki Haley strongly hinted some U.S. action was coming if the Security Council doesn't act.
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes Trump will take military action,
Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency quoted him as saying.
Erdogan
said Turkey would be prepared to do "whatever falls on us" to support
possible military action, the news agency reported.
At
the U.N., the United States, which currently holds the presidency of
the Security Council, it drafted a resolution along with Britain and
France that condemns the use of chemical weapons, particularly in the
attack on Khan Sheikhoun, "in the strongest terms."
Russia objected to key provisions in the resolution and negotiations have been underway to try to bridge the differences.
Britain's deputy ambassador Peter Wilson said "what we want is a unanimous resolution ... and we want to see this done soon."
A day earlier, Russia had argued against holding Assad's government responsible.
France's U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre indicated difficulty in reaching agreement on a resolution.
"We
have engaged into negotiations in good faith to adopt a resolution -
but make no mistake about it we need a robust text," he said. "We cannot
be willing to have a text at any cost."
"There
are fundamentals we cannot compromise with when it's about the barbaric
murder of civilians, among them many children, with chemical weapons,"
Delattre said adding that he didn't know whether the council will be
able to adopt a resolution. If Russia cast a veto, he said, "that would
be a terrible responsibility in front of history."
But Delattre told the AP later he thought there was "still a chance" for an agreement with Russia.
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel called the attack "barbaric" and a war crime,
and she said everything must be done to investigate it urgently. She
also criticized the Security Council for failing to pass a resolution
condemning the attack, saying those who don't support it "should think
about what responsibility they are shouldering."
French
Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault urged a resumption of peace talks
and said he wants Assad's government prosecuted. He told CNews
television that a U.N. resolution and peace negotiations should be a top
priority - not new military interventions.
"France is still seeking to talk with its partners on the Security Council ... Russia in particular," Ayrault said.
"These crimes must not remain unpunished. ... One day, international justice will rule on Assad," he added.
After
the attack, hospitals around Khan Sheikhoun were overwhelmed, and
paramedics sent victims to medical facilities across rebel-held areas in
northern Syria, as well as to Turkey. The Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group put the death toll at 86.
The
attack happened in Syria's Idlib province about 100 kilometers (60
miles) from the Turkish border, and the Turkish government - a close
ally of Syria's rebels - set up a decontamination center at a border
crossing in Hatay province, where the victims were treated initially.
Turkish officials said nearly 60 victims of the attack were brought to Turkey for treatment and three of them died.
Victims
showed signs of nerve gas exposure, including suffocation, foaming at
the mouth, convulsions, constricted pupils and involuntary defecation,
the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders said.
Paramedics used fire hoses to wash the chemicals from the bodies of
victims.
Visuals from the scene were reminiscent of a 2013 nerve gas attack on the suburbs of Damascus that left hundreds dead.
In
Turkey, Anadolu and the private DHA news agencies on Thursday quoted
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag as saying "it was determined after the
autopsy that a chemical weapon was used."
The
Turkish Health Ministry said later that "according to the results of the
first analysis, there were findings suggesting that the patients were
exposed to chemical substance (sarin)."
WHO experts took part in the autopsies in the Turkish city of Adana late Wednesday, Turkish media reported.
The
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it has
"initiated contact" with Syrian authorities and its Technical
Secretariat has been collecting and analyzing information about the
allegations.
"This is an ongoing investigation," it said.
Russia has warned against fixing blame for the attack until an investigation is completed.
At
a news conference in Damascus, Moallem echoed that statement, saying
the Syrian army bombed a warehouse belonging to al-Qaida's branch in
Syria that contained chemical weapons. He did not say whether the
government knew in advance that the warehouse contained chemical
weapons.
The minister said al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have been bringing chemical weapons from neighboring Iraq.
Asked
whether Syria would give access to a fact-finding mission on the use of
chemical weapons, Moallem said: "Our experiences with international
investigating committees were not encouraging, because they come out of
Damascus with certain indications, which then change at their
headquarters."
Syria wants guarantees that any investigation would be impartial and not politicized, Moallem said.
The
area of Khan Sheikhoun is difficult to access, and as more time passes
since the attack, it will be increasingly difficult to determine exactly
what happened.
Jan Egeland, the top
humanitarian aid official with the U.N.'s Syria office, said he believes
an awareness of the need to protect civilians is finally "sinking in."
He
expressed hope for a "watershed moment" with "all of these world
leaders saying that they have again woken up to the suffering of the
civilians that we see every day."
