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Israeli intelligence official says Assad used lethal sarin gas last month
Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, head of the Research Division at IDF Military Intelligence, said yesterday that forces loyal to Syrian President Assad used chemical weapons last month, although United States officials were reluctant to corroborate his assessment.
Speaking at a conference organised by the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, Brun said “We believe the [Assad] regime has, and is using chemical weapons,” noting Syria’s huge chemical stockpiles. Brun outlined a specific incident on 19 March near Aleppo that is thought to have killed twenty-six people. He said that “Shrunken pupils, foaming at the mouth and other signs” indicates “there was a use of lethal chemical weapons. Which weapons? Probably sarin.”
Brun expressed concern that Assad’s use of chemical weapons had not elicited a response from the international community, despite repeated warnings over such action by Western leaders, including US President Barack Obama who said that it would constitute crossing a “red line.” Brun commented, “The very fact that they have used chemical weapons without any appropriate reaction is a very worrying development, because it might signal that this is legitimate.”
However, senior United States officials would not confirm Brun’s assessment. Speaking yesterday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that he had discussed the issue with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the morning and that “I think it is fair for me to say that he was not in a position to confirm that in the conversation that I had. I don’t know yet what the facts are.” However, Kerry did urge NATO to develop a plan to respond to chemical weapons use in Syria. Meanwhile, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that the United States had not yet concluded that chemical weapons had been deployed by Assad.
According to a report in Maariv today, Israeli assessments that Assad has used chemical weapons are based on UK intelligence, with Israel accepting the UK view that chemical weapons have been used over the US position.