Angela Merkel points finger at Assad regime over Syria ‘chemical attack’

Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday said there were indications that the Syrian regime was responsible for the suspected chemical attack there which left scores dead.

“Unfortunately, there are elements showing that it came from the Assad regime,” Merkel told reporters during a visit to the town of Bad Muskau in eastern Germany, according to a spokesman.

Earlier Thursday the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, along with its ally Russia, rejected growing international accusations that Damascus was behind the attack in which at least 86 people were killed.

Merkel said it was “scandalous” that there had been no UN Security Council resolution on the suspected chemical attack in which 27 of the victims were children and a further 546 people were injured.

Britain, France and the United States circulated a draft resolution following the strike Tuesday on a rebel-held town in Idlib province in northeast Syria.

It remained unclear whether Russia would support the measure, which was slightly revised following negotiations over the past two days.

AFP