France Examines 14 Cases Of Chemical Attacks In Syria

France Examines 14 Cases Of Chemical Attacks In Syria

A representative of the French government said via a press release this Tuesday that a total of 14 cases of chemical attacks in Syria are being examined. Laurent Fabius, the French Foreign Minister said that there are at least 14 attacks carried out by Assad loyal troops against rebels that are suspected to have contained chemical weapons, particularly chlorine based gas.

The French minister added that Bashar al-Assad may still have the ability to produce chemical weapons even with the international efforts carried out to dismantle Syria’s bio-chemical arsenal. At the moment, French experts are examining the samples taken from the suspected attacks.

Minister Fabius said that the Assad led government agreed to hand over 92 percent of its chemical weapons stockpile in an agreement that was supervised by Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Despite the apparent will to cooperate with OPCW and to surrender its chemical weapons it appears that Syria still has the ability to produce chemical weapons. Even with the Syrian government handing over 92 percent of its stockpile to be destroyed, a remainder of 7.5 percent has not yet been turned over to the international community with12 manufacturing plants yet to be destroyed.

The OPCW may be launching an independent fact-finding mission in Syria to confirm the use of chemical weapons although nothing clear has yet been announced.

Posted by James Fried on Thursday May 15 2014, 2:54 AM EST. Ref: reuters. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0