Syria has no Russia-made chemical weapons stockpile, a Russian official said Tuesday.
Col. Vladimir Mandych, deputy director of the Federal Agency for Safe Storage and Destruction of Chemical Weapons, said: “Syria is one of the countries that did not sign the chemical weapons convention. As far as I know, no Russian-made chemical weapons have ever been supplied to Syria.”
US President Barack Obama Monday said Syria’s chemical weapons would be a “red line” that would change Washington’s stance on a foreign military intervention into the Syrian conflict.
The Syrian foreign ministry said in July that Damascus may use chemical weapons against external aggression as the West pushes for a possible military intervention in the country torn by violent clashes between troops loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad and opposition forces.
The Syrian stockpile of chemical weapons is believed to consist mostly of large amounts of sarin, tabun and mustard gas.
–IANS