Alwaght- France threatened to attack Syria if the use of chemical weapons against civilians is proven in the war-torn country.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Tuesday "If we have proven evidence that chemical weapons proscribed in treaties are used, we will strike the place where they are made," however, he noted that no proof of such an action has been presented.
"Today, our agencies, our armed forces have not established that chemical weapons, as set out in treaties, have been used against the civilian population".
Macron also noted that he had recently discussed the topic of chemical weapons use in Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a Friday phone conversation.
"I've reiterated it to President Putin, asking to make it very clear to the Syrian regime, which has reaffirmed that it does not use chemical weapons … but we are watching it,” Macron stated.
On Friday, France's defense minister also noted that there is no proof that the Syrian government has used the chemical agent chlorine in the country.
The French defense minister says France has no absolute evidence about recent reports on the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
"We have some indications of possible chlorine use [in Syria], but we have no absolute confirmation,” said Florence Parly on Friday.
In January, pro-militant sources in Syria, the White Helmets and the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, claimed that the Syrian government had used chlorine gas against militants in northwestern Syria.
The US and UK raised the issue at the UN Security Council on February 6, but the Syrian envoy rejected the allegations as “false and cheap.”
Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in early 2011, the Western governments have on several occasions accused Syria of using chemical weapons against militants. Damascus has denied the allegation, saying it is meant to pile more pressure on the government forces and delay their success in the fight against terrorists.
The Syrian government surrendered its stockpiles of chemical weapons in 2014 to a joint mission led by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which oversaw the destruction of the weaponry.
Al-Nusra terrorists Plot chemical attack
Russian Coordination Center in Syria has reported that al-Nusra Front terrorists, in cooperation with the so-called White Helmets, are preparing and circulating for the use of chemical weapons against civilians in Idlib to accuse the Syrian forces of this act.
The center stated that one of the civilians in Saraqeb, in Idlib countryside, informed the center of information that al- Nusra Front terrorists are preparing for a provocation by using chemical weapons and broadcast that via a foreign channel.
It added that the terrorists brought to Saraqeb more than 20 cylinders of Chlorine gas, while the White Helmets have already made rehearsal showcasing unreal first aids pretending to rescue civilians form poisons of toxic gases.
The center said that the scenes were filmed by professional photographers who commented on the work as “a great work carried out by the so-called White Helmets,” putting a fabric cover on a microphone with CNN logo on it.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in October that the notorious Idlib chemical incident in April, which was used by the US as a pretext to strike Syria’s Shayrat Airbase, might have been staged.
Presenting photographic evidence of a crater from the scene of the chemical incident, the head of the Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mikhail Ulyanov, told a UN briefing that the bomb which dispersed the deadly chemical agent was most likely detonated on the ground and not on impact from a Syrian airstrike. “Most likely, an improvised explosive device was located on the surface,” Ulyanov said.
The Khan Shaykhun chemical incident occurred on April 4, 2017, in the town of the same name in the Idlib Governorate, in an area that was under the control of Al-Nusra Front terrorists.
The White Helmets have been long hailed by the Western media as “peace-bearing heroes” who save human lives. However, the group has been dogged by allegations of having ties with terrorist groups.
