MOSCOW: Syria’s military is ready to halt fire around the opposition-held town hit by a suspected chemical attack if experts are sent in to conduct a probe, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday.
“The command of the Syrian armed forces has expressed readiness to cease hostilities in Khan Sheikhun if a special mission of experts is sent there to investigate the events of April 4,” the ministry said in a statement.
Moscow added that Damascus was “ready to declare a complete moratorium on the activities of its troops, aviation and artillery in the area” if investigators were sent in and also that they would be granted access to the Shayrat airbase allegedly used to launch the attack.
The Damascus regime itself however has not made any official announcement on the matter.
A suspected chemical attack left scores dead, including many children, in opposition-held territory in Idlib province on April 4, with the West accusing Moscow’s ally Syrian President Assad of being responsible.
The Kremlin has consistently sought to deflect blame from Damascus over the incident, pointing the finger of blame at opposition fighters and fiercely decrying a punitive missile strike by the US against the Shayrat airbase.
Russia has also attempted to cast doubt on a probe being carried out by the OPCW global chemical weapons watchdog, criticizing the organization for purported bias and not sending experts to the scene of the alleged attack in war-torn Syria.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) last week rejected a move from Assad backers Russia and Iran to launch a new investigation into the incident.
Moscow’s attempts to start a new probe came as OPCW head Ahmet Uzumcu said that “incontrovertible” test results showed sarin gas or a similar substance was used.
As the wrangling goes on over the suspected chemical attack, Damascus has continued to carry out deadly strikes against the rebel-held region.
Five people were killed and several people injured Monday after air strikes targeted Khan Sheikhun’s market, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syria agrees to halt fire for chemical attack probe: Russia
Syria agrees to halt fire for chemical attack probe: Russia
Lebanon to delay May elections due to conflict with Israel, officials say
- The sources said Lebanon’s president, prime minister and parliament speaker had agreed on the move on Tuesday
- It would still require the approval of a majority of Lebanon’s 128-member legislature
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s leaders have agreed on a plan to postpone parliamentary elections scheduled for May and to extend parliament’s term by two years after the resumption of conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah this week and growing war in the Middle East, two senior Lebanese officials said.
The sources said Lebanon’s president, prime minister and parliament speaker had agreed on the move on Tuesday. It would still require the approval of a majority of Lebanon’s 128-member legislature.
Lebanon, which last held parliamentary polls in 2022, has been pulled into the war in the Middle East, with Hezbollah on Tuesday launching missiles at Israel for a second consecutive day and Israel sending troops into the south and carrying out waves of airstrikes.
The theater for numerous conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon was drawn into the spillover from the war between the United States, Israel and Iran on Monday, when Hezbollah opened fire with drones and missiles.
With dozens of people killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes, Hezbollah’s move to enter the conflict has sharpened long-standing divisions in Lebanon over its status as an armed group — the only Lebanese faction to keep its weapons after the 1975-90 civil war.
“It does not appear that conditions will be conducive to holding elections for some time,” one of the officials said.
