US, UK chemical arms claim barefaced lie: Syria minister

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi says claims by the US and Britain that Damascus may have used chemical weapons against foreign-backed militants are a “barefaced lie.”

“First of all, I want to confirm that statements by the US Secretary of State [John Kerry] and British government are inconsistent with reality and a barefaced lie,” Zohbi told Russia Today (RT) television network on Saturday.

“I want to stress one more time that Syria would never use it [chemical weapons] — not only because of its adherence to the international law and rules of leading war, but because of humanitarian and moral issues,” he added.

The remarks came after the US, Israel and Britain claimed that the Syrian government may have used chemical weapons against the militants.

Zohbi, however, accused anti-Damascus militants of using chemical weapons. He said there are strong documents proving militants’ use of chemical weapons in an attack on the village of Khan al-Assal outside of the northern city of Aleppo in March.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on Damascus to approve a UN mission of inspectors to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons.

Zohbi, however, said that Damascus could not trust UN inspectors from the US and Britain, adding the Syrian government would accept Russian experts.

“We do not trust the American and British experts from a political point of view. We also do not trust their qualifications. Their aim is to juggle with facts,” Zohbi said.

“We won’t mind if Russians would be among the experts, quite the contrary, we only welcome this idea. We are quite sure in their high qualification and ability to clearly see into such matters,” he added.

The Syrian crisis began in mid-March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.