20 Apr 2024
Saturday 22 April 2017 - 11:18
Story Code : 258099

What's behind US, EU's reluctance to investigate Idlib chemical incident

Sputnik - It is hardly surprising that the US and EU policymakers turn a deaf ear to Russia and Damascus's plea to conduct a scrupulous investigation into the suspected use of the chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun, Russian political analyst Stanislav Tarasov told Radio Sputnik, explaining why the West is uninterested in carrying out such an inquiry.


While American and European politicians remain surprisingly reluctant tothe idea toinvestigate the suspected chemical attack inKhan Shaykhun, political analyst, and head ofthe Middle East-Caucasus think-tank Stanislav Tarasov suggests that "the West" is byno means interested inconducting such an inquiry.


Speaking toSputnik onThursday Syrian President Bashar al-Assad emphasized that Western countries are deliberately blocking attempts toinvestigate the Idlib chemical incident.
"We formally sent a letter tothe United Nations, we asked them inthat letter tosend a delegation inorder toinvestigate what happened inKhan Shaykhun," Assad told Sputnik.


"However, untilthis moment they didn't send any group sincethe West and the United States blocked any delegation fromcoming because if they come, they will find outthat their narrative aboutwhat happened inKhan Shaykhun was a false flag and a lie," the Syrian president stressed.

Likewise, the United Nations abstained fromsending a crew toinvestigate the chemical attack inAleppo conducted byIslamists againstthe Syrian Arab Army a few years ago, he recalled.
"And later many incidents had happened inthat way, and they [the UN] didn't send any delegation. It's the same now," Assad said, expressing concerns that new provocations, similar tothe one that took place inKhan Shaykhun, cannot be ruled out.


Commenting onthe issue, Stanislav Tarasov pointed outthat one shouldn't be surprised atthe inability ofthe UN tocarry outan investigation intothe Khan Shaykhun incident.


"The UN is a bureaucratic structure," Tarasov told Radio Sputnik, "An appropriate decision should be taken [to launch the process] and everything depends onthe decision ofthe Security Council. [However] the resolutions proposed byRussia do not pass there. The resolutions drafted bythe US and its allies members ofthe Security Council are, intheir turn, blocked byRussia sincethey contain serious semantic contradictions."

According toTarasov, the "hysterical" reaction ofthe US and its European allies tothe Khan Shaykhun incident was hypocritical.
"What is surrounding the alleged chemical attack inSyria and which was cited asa reason fora missile strike bythe US, is a 'staged intrigue,'" Tarasov said, "It worked: Turkey withdrew fromthe alliance withRussia and Iran and supported the Americans. This staged performance has played its role and what is happening now is nothing more thanan information confrontation."


On April 4, the National Coalition forSyrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces accused the Syrian Arab Army ofthe alleged chemical attack inKhan Shaykhun inthe province ofIdlib.

Damascus denied any involvement inthe Idlib incident, citing the fact that the Syrian government eliminated all its chemical weapons underthe auspices ofthe Organization forthe Prohibition ofChemical Weapons (OPCW).

The US and EU rushed tocondemn Damascus, although no credible evidence ofthe Syrian government's involvement inthe suspected use ofthe chemical weapons has yet been presented. For its part, Russia insists ona proper investigation intothe incident.
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