Syria rejects UN chemical attack report

The Syrian government has rejected a UN report blaming it for a chemical attack that killed more than 80 people in an opposition-held town.

کد خبر: ۷۴۲۲۱۱

تاریخ: ۰۶ آبان ۱۳۹۶ - ۰۹:۲۴

Images notably of children suffering in Khan Sheikhoun in April prompted a US missile strike against a Syrian air base which Washington said was used to launch a sarin gas strike.

"Syria rejects in form and substance what was included in the report of the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) that was announced yesterday,” state news agency SANA reported, citing an official in Syria’s foreign ministry.

The official said the report had been compiled under instructions from the United States and other Western countries "to place more political pressure” on Syria, SANA reported.

The UK wants UN sanctions on Syria.

"Today we begin out pursuit of accountability,” Britain’s UN ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters.

"I look to Russia to join in that effort. Russia and all Security Council members must now act, on our own words, that Chapter 7 measures will be taken if anyone has been found to be using chemical weapons in Syria. It is long past time for Moscow to abandon Assad. It is long past time for justice.”

But President Assad’s ally also rejects the findings.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, quoted by the Tass News Agency, says the report totally ignores conclusions made by Russian specialists.