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Syrian weapons chief said 'no' to Pencilneck
Assad ordered me three times to gas my people but I couldn't do it, says former Syrian weapons chiefA former Syrian weapons chief has claimed that he was ordered to by President Assad to use chemical weapons on his own people, but that he could not bring himself to do it. Brigadier-General Zaher al-Sakat, who was in charge of chemical weapons in a contested area of southern Syria, said he was given orders directly from Assad to use deadly gases on rebel soldiers, but replaced the payloads with a harmless substitute.
The Assad regime still vigorously denies that it ever ordered chemical weapons attacks which it blames on rebel forces but it has nonetheless admitted that it possesses chemical weapons, and has agreed a sensitive deal to hand over its arsenal. But, in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, general Sakat also claimed that Assad is trying to cheat the deal, brokered by Russia, by sending a portion of his chemical weapons to allies in Lebanon and Iran. International pressure on Syria came to a head last month after footage emerged of the victims of an attack in the countrys capital city, Damascus. UN inspectors were later allowed to inspect the site, and found evidence that the deadly chemical agent sarin had been used, killing more than 1,400 people. But the general says that chemical attacks had been ordered and were underway - long before that. In the interview he said that he had been ordered to attack civilian targets in the rebel districts of Sheikh Masqeen, Herak, and Busra, using a mixture of phosgene and other chlorine-based gases, which are less deadly than sarin. But general Sakat said that before each of the attacks between October 2012 and January 2013 - he secretly replaced the chemical canisters with a mixture of bleach and water, which would still smell like deadly chemical weapons but not kill anybody. He said: They were completely convinced that this was the same poisonous material. In this way I saved hundreds of lives of children and others. He then fled to Jordan after he felt his superiors were suspicious of the lack of deaths caused by his attacks, but claims to have been keeping up with the progress of the attacks using a network of informants. Although Preisdent Assad has agreed to hand over his weapons, and Russian officials have said they are making plans for what to do if Assad cheats the system. But General Sakat said that before a deal was even proposed, the Syrian regime had begun sending its weapons to allies in the militant organisation Hezbollah in Lebanon at four different sites. A spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army, backed the claims, saying: We, along with many other international sources learned, through documents and other evidence about the transfer of Syrian chemical weapons to Hizbollah in Lebanon nearly three months ago. Posted by: Steve White 2013-09-24 |
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