A possible use of chemical weapons by the Syrian authorities either against the opposition or someone else is “intolerable” and “unacceptable”, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little has said during a press briefing.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said earlier this week that Syria might 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.
Asked whether the Syrian regime has made any preparations so far to use chemical weapons against the opposition, the press secretary said that he was unable “to speculate on Syrian intentions”, but added that the “Syrian regime should not use chemical weapons” by any means.
The official also said that currently the Syrian authorities provide good protection of its biological and chemical weapons facilities and that is what they should maintain doing.
“I think that over time we’ve seen that they [Syria] have maintained security around their chemical and biological weapons stockpiles,” he said.
In 1968, Syria joined the 1925 Geneva Protocol on the prohibition of the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of bacteriological methods of warfare.
—-IANS