General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRussian FM Lavrov Urges Caution Over Syria Chemical Weapons Reports To Avoid The “Iraqi Scenario”
BRUSSELS, April 23 (RIA Novosti) Any reports of the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict must be carefully investigated to avoid the repetition of the Iraqi scenario, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.
"We believe that any concrete reports that chemical weapons were used or that there are serious concrete suspicions that there was such use should be immediately investigated by experts on the spot," Lavrov said at a news conference after a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels.
He said Syria should not face the repetition of the so-called Iraqi scenario in which unconfirmed suspicions that Saddam Husseins regime possessed weapons of mass destruction were enough for invasion.
The Syrian government has confirmed its readiness to receive experts investigating a particular incident and readiness to receive experts in any place in Syria if there is specific information that chemical weapons could have been used there, Lavrov said.
The Russian minister described the delays in sending a UN mission to investigate the reports of the use of chemical weapons in Syria as an attempt to politicize the issue and force the Iraqi scenario on Syria.
MORE...
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130423/180805892.html
Leslie Valley
(310 posts)Warning the Obama administration to act with restraint.
What the rest of the world must think of us.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)to protect their own interests.
pampango
(24,692 posts)incident and readiness to receive experts in any place in Syria if there is specific information that chemical weapons could have been used there, Lavrov said.
"A team of international experts was dispatched to Syria to investigate the incident, but it is still in Cyprus awaiting permission to enter the country as the Syrian authorities have refused to allow the experts to probe other reported instances of chemical weapons use, according to UN officials."
It will be interesting to see if Russia really wants Syria to admit investigators "in any place in Syria if there is specific information that chemical weapons could have been used there". Assad has shown little enthusiasm for admitting the UN team that is currently waiting in Cyprus for permission to enter the country.