PARIS: French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Saturday that missile strikes carried out overnight in Syria by Britain, France and the US had destroyed a “large part” of Damascus’s stocks of chemical weapons.
“A large part of its chemical arsenal has been destroyed,” Le Drian told BFM television. “A lot has been destroyed in last night’s strikes.”
He also said France had “solid intelligence” that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad was behind the gas attack in the rebel-held city of Douma last weekend, which monitors say killed at least 40 people.
Syria as well as its main backer Russia have denied being behind the attack, a claim that was dismissed by Le Drian, citing “overwhelming testimony” and extensive analysis by French intelligence services and laboratories.
“The analyzes are not yet finished... but will allow us to identify all the gases. There was chlorine, that’s certain,” and preliminary evidence points to other gases as well, he said.
But although France has determined that high-ranking officers in the Syrian army ordered the attack, Le Drian said he could not state with certainty that Assad himself was behind those orders.
He warned, however, that France would not hesitate to strike Syria again in case of further chemical attacks.
“On the question of chemical weapons, there is a red line that must not be crossed, and if it should be crossed again, there will be another intervention,” Le Drian said.
“But I think the lesson has been learned.”
“The point is to make sure there is no proliferation of chemical weapons,” he added. “The point was not to impact the regime’s allies, nor even to impact the institutional functioning of the Syrian regime.”
Le Drian also said that for now President Emmanuel Macron still planned to travel to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin in May, while urging Moscow to work constructively on applying US Security Council resolutions on Syria.
“We have to keep talking with Russia, and Russia needs to realize that it has voted in favor of UN security resolutions (on Syria) and that they must be applied today, and not be carried away by the barbarity of Bashar Assad,” he said.
France says ‘large part’ of Syria chemical arsenal destroyed
France says ‘large part’ of Syria chemical arsenal destroyed
UK sanctions RSF commanders over links to mass killings in Sudan
- The government also pledged a further £21 million to provide food, shelter, health services, and protection for women and children
LONDON: Britain sanctioned senior commanders of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on Friday, over what it said were their links to mass killings, systematic sexual violence and deliberate attacks on civilians in the African country.
Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, the RSF Deputy Leader and brother of RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, as well as three other commanders that are suspected of involvement in these crimes, now face asset freezes and travel bans, the British government said.
“The atrocities taking place in Sudan are so horrific they scar the conscience of the world,” foreign minister Yvette Cooper said in the statement. “Today’s sanctions against RSF commanders strike directly at those with blood on their hands.”
The government also pledged a further £21 million to provide food, shelter, health services, and protection for women and children in some of the hardest-to-reach areas, the statement said.
Millions of people have been displaced by the war, which erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the RSF.
