Assad shifting chemical stocks to Lebanon, Iraq say rebel leaders

[Wehrwolfen]

By Carlo Muñoz
09/14/13


Syrian military forces are already moving chemical weapon stockpiles out of the country to evade looming UN inspections, an opposition leader said Saturday.

"We have told our friends that the regime has begun moving a part of its chemical weapons arsenal to Lebanon and Iraq," Gen. Salim Idris, the top commander of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), told reporters in Istanbul.

"We told them do not be fooled," he said, according to Reuters.

The FSA is the largest and most organized of the rebel factions battling to overthrow longtime Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces in the country.

His comments come hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced Saturday that a framework has been reached to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons.

International inspectors would be on the ground by November and all stockpiles should be removed or destroyed by mid-2014, Kerry said at a joint news conference with Lavrov.


Read more:
Assad shifting chemical stocks to Lebanon, Iraq say rebel leaders - The Hill's DEFCON Hill

Somewhere I read that trucks containing WMD are being sent to Iraq as we read these blogs.

 

[TheDemSocialist]

Well i would like to see evidence other than a FSA commander...

 

[Sharona]

By Carlo Muñoz
09/14/13


Syrian military forces are already moving chemical weapon stockpiles out of the country to evade looming UN inspections, an opposition leader said Saturday.

"We have told our friends that the regime has begun moving a part of its chemical weapons arsenal to Lebanon and Iraq," Gen. Salim Idris, the top commander of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), told reporters in Istanbul.

"We told them do not be fooled," he said, according to Reuters.

The FSA is the largest and most organized of the rebel factions battling to overthrow longtime Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces in the country.

His comments come hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced Saturday that a framework has been reached to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons.

International inspectors would be on the ground by November and all stockpiles should be removed or destroyed by mid-2014, Kerry said at a joint news conference with Lavrov.


Read more:
Assad shifting chemical stocks to Lebanon, Iraq say rebel leaders - The Hill's DEFCON Hill

Somewhere I read that trucks containing WMD are being sent to Iraq as we read these blogs.

Like anyone would believe this...........

 

[Wehrwolfen]

Assad Scattering Chemical Weapons to 50 Sites​

Ynet News

A secretive Syrian military unit at the center of the Assad regime's chemical weapons program has been moving stocks of poison gases and munitions to as many as 50 sites to make them harder for the US to track, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing American and Middle Eastern officials.

The American newspaper quoted officials as saying the movements of chemical weapons by Syria's elite Unit 450 could complicate any US bombing campaign in Syria over its alleged chemical attacks,. It also raises questions about implementation of a Russian proposal that calls for the regime to surrender control of its stockpile, they said.

US and Israeli intelligence agencies still believe they know where most of the Syrian regime's chemical weapons are located, but with less confidence than six months ago, US officials said.

The US claims a chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government on Aug. 21 killed more than 1,400 people, including at least 400 children, in rebel strongholds on the outskirts of the capital Damascus. Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday again denied any involvement in a chemical attack, but said his government was prepared to sign an agreement banning the use of chemical weapons.

The Wall Street Journal reported Unit 450--a branch of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center that manages the regime's overall chemicals weapons program--has been moving the stocks around for months, officials and lawmakers briefed on the intelligence said.

Movements occurred as recently as last week, the officials said, after Obama said he was preparing to launch strikes.

The unit is in charge of mixing and deploying chemical munitions, and it provides security at chemical sites, according to US and European intelligence agencies. It is composed of officers from Assad's Alawite sect. One diplomat briefed on the unit said it was Alawite from "janitor to commander."

According to the report, US military officials have looked into the possibility of gaining influence over members of Unit 450 through inducements or threats. "In a perfect world, you would actually like to co-opt that unit. Who cares who pays them as long as they sit on the chemical weapons," a senior US military official was quoted by The Wall Street Journal as saying.

Although the option remains on the table, government experts say the unit is so close knit that they doubt any member could break ranks without being exposed and killed, the report said.

[Excerpt]


Read more:
Assad Scattering Chemical Weapons to 50 Sites

Read full source: Report: Assad scattering chemical weapons to 50 sites - Israel News, Ynetnews