Syria says France ineligible to issue report on chemical attack

Damascus (SyriaNews.media) The Syrian government has slammed a French intelligence report which accused it of carrying out an attack with chemical weapons on Idlib on April 4th that killed nearly 87 civilians.

The Syrian ministry said Thursday that the French government did not possess “judicial competence or eligibility” to make the report and announce conclusions, accusing French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault of leading a “misinformation campaign” and “fabrication”.

The six-page, declassified report said the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad was behind the Sarin gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun village, Idilb, which draw a wide-scale western condemnation of the Syrian regime. The United States carried out its first intervention against Assad’s troops in response to the attack, launching an airstrike on an airbase belonging to the Syrian President’s forces in Homs that was believed to be the source of the chemical airstrike.

Slamming the report, the Syrian foreign ministry said it represented a “flagrant violation” of the competences of international bodies assigned for investigating the claims.

Last week, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed the use of Sarin gas in the attack on Khan Sheikhoun, relying on samples taken from civilians at the scene of the incident.