Syria Says Rebels Using Chemical Weapons, Opposition Denies
Syrian rebels on Tuesday denied government claims that they had used chemical weapons, blaming President Bashar Assad's regime instead for the deadly rocket attack that caused "breathing problems."
"We understand the army targeted Khan al-Assal (in Aleppo province) using a long-range missile, and our initial information says it may have contained chemical weapons," mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army spokesman Louay Muqdad told Agence France Presse.
"There are many casualties and many injured have breathing problems," he said in Istanbul, where Syria's opposition has gathered to pick a rebel prime minister.
He denied claims made earlier Tuesday by Syria's state news agency SANA that "terrorists" -- the name the regime uses for rebels -- "fired rockets containing chemical materials on Khan al-Assal", killing 15 people.
"We have neither long-range missiles nor chemical weapons. And if we did, we wouldn't use them against a rebel target," said Muqdad.
Monitoring groups have frequently accused the army of using long-range missiles to target rebel enclaves in Syria that have slipped out of regime control.
Damascus has also warned it may use its chemical weapons if attacked by outsiders, although not against its own people.
U.S. President Barack Obama told Syria last year there would be "enormous consequences" if chemical weapons were used in the spiraling conflict, which has seen more than 70,000 die.
"This attack would surely cross all red lines set by the international community," Muqdad said.
Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, which dates back to the 1970s, is the biggest in the Middle East, but its precise scope remains unclear, according to analysts, and the regime has not acknowledged having the arms.
The country has hundreds of tonnes of various chemical agents, including sarin and VX nerve agents, as well as older blistering agents such as mustard gas, dispersed in dozens of manufacturing and storage sites, experts say.
But it remains unclear if the chemical weapons are mounted and ready to be launched on Scud missiles, if the chemical agents are maintained effectively, and whether the regime is able to replenish its chemical stocks.
Source: Agence France Presse
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