Assad denies connection to sarin gas attack
Hinting opposition forces might have used chemical weapons, Syrian president warns that US-led attack will elicit retaliation
Aaron Kalman is a former writer and breaking news editor for the Times of Israel
Syrian President Bashar Assad on Sunday denied any connection to the use of chemical weapons in the ongoing civil war in his country and threatened that his allies would carry out retaliatory action if his regime is attacked by Western forces.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said the August 21 gas attack near Damascus killed over 1,400 people, including hundreds of children and other unarmed civilians. The attack caused an international uproar and prompted US President Barack Obama to seek Congressional approval of a military strike against Assad’s regime.
Assad, in a PBS interview slated to be aired on Monday, said there was not enough evidence to make a conclusive judgement about the alleged chemical attack.
Speaking on the phone with CBS from Syria, interviewer Charlie Rose said Assad denied his army had any chemical weapons:
“He denied that he knew there was a chemical attack, notwithstanding what has been said and notwithstanding the videotape. He said there’s not enough evidence to make a conclusive judgment. He would not say even… even though I read him the lead paragraph of The New York Times today in the story about their chemical weapons supply. And he said I cannot confirm or deny that we do have them. He did, however, say that if in fact we do have them — and I am not going to say Yes or No — they are in centralized control and no one else has access to them.”
According to Rose, the most important thing Assad said is that “there has been no evidence that I used chemical weapons against my own people.” Rather, the Syrian president once again suggested opposition troops were behind the attack.
Rose reported that Assad also said his forces “were obviously as prepared as they could be for a strike” against them, even though he wasn’t certain the US would indeed attack him or his regime. Assad, he said, warned the US and reminded it that previous operations in the Middle East had “not been a good experience.” In addition, the president “suggested that there would be — among people that are aligned with him — some kind of retaliation if a strike is made.”
The Times of Israel Community.