The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Wednesday that accused the German government of “stonewalling” on the health of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader poisoned with Novichok nerve agent according to German doctors – a chemical weapon Russia has employed in previous assassination attempts.
The U.S. envoy to a meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) accused Iran on Thursday of developing banned chemical weapons and failing to disclose its activities as required by the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention.
Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are seeking to exhume the bodies of victims from the suspected chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria, on the theory that traces of nerve agents like sarin gas will linger in human tissue for much longer than environmental samples from the attack site.
Inspectors from the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) were finally able to visit the two sites in Douma, Syria where poison gas was allegedly deployed by dictator Bashar Assad. The first site was accessed by inspectors on April 21, while the second was visited on Wednesday, April 25.
Russian Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi stated on Wednesday that Moscow will supply Syria with “new missile defense systems soon.” He did not specify the equipment involved, but other reports in the Russian press suggest he was referring to the vaunted S-300 surface-to-air missile launcher.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday denied allegations that Russia is working with the Syrian government to keep international inspectors away from the chemical weapons attack site in Douma so the evidence can be destroyed.
The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that it has “credible information” Russia and Syria are working together to keep inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) from visiting the site of the alleged chemical attack in Douma.
Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) “arrived” in Douma, Syria, on Tuesday, but they were not able to enter the town and examine the sites where the Syrian government allegedly deployed chemical weapons.
After several days of stalling, Russia and Syria finally allowed inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to visit the site of the alleged chemical weapons strike in Douma on Tuesday, ten days after the attack occurred.
Inspectors with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) arrived in Syria on Saturday with plans to visit the site of the alleged chemical weapons strike in Douma on Monday. On Monday the British delegation to the OPCW said the inspectors were blocked from visiting Douma by the Russian and Syrian governments.
MOSCOW (RUSSIA) (AFP) – Moscow on Saturday accused the chemical weapons watchdog of manipulating the results of its probe into the poisoning of a former Russian spy, saying his samples had traces of a nerve agent used by the West.
The World Health Organization published a statement on Wednesday saying it was “deeply alarmed” by reports of chemical weapons deployment in Syria. WHO said it has received reports from partners in the Douma area that roughly 500 patients have been treated for symptoms consistent with toxic exposure, while over 70 deaths were reported from the attack, 43 of them apparently caused by toxic chemical exposure.
Contents: International Red Cross: Fighting in Syria worst since Aleppo; Analyst gives a chilling analysis of where the Syrian war is going
In an interview with the AFP news service on Thursday, Syrian President Bashar Assad claimed last week’s chemical weapons attack in the Idlib province was a “100 percent fabrication.”
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad still has the capability to launch chemical weapon attacks, according to a summary of a confidential watchdog report provided to the United Nations.
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS) used chemical weapons against Kurdish troops during a battle in Iraq last August.
A watchdog group called the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons reports finding more evidence of chemical weapons deployment, including sarin gas, or a substance very similar to it.
The use of chemical weapons in Syria, namely chlorine and mustard gas, is becoming routine, lamented the U.S. representative of a United Nations-backed chemical weapons watchdog.
