Russian parliamentarian says claims of chemical arms use by Syrian govt are false
MOSCOW. June 14 (Interfax) - Claims of the Syrian authorities' use of chemical weapons were just as false as reports of weapons of mass destruction stockpiles allegedly owned by former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, said on his Twitter page.
"The allegations of chemical weapons use by [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad were just as false as the lies about Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. [Incumbent U.S. President Barack] Obama is following Bush's path," Pushkov said.
The U.S. administration earlier accused the Syrian authorities of using chemical weapons, including sarin, against the opposition.
The White House has put the number of people who died as a result of this chemical arms use at 150.
U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, for his part, told reporters that President Obama had decided to extend military assistance to the Syrian opposition.
Washington's media, citing sources familiar with the situation, reported that the package of U.S. expanded assistance for the Syrian opposition would include some kinds of U.S. weapons.
The reports, however, do not identify these weapons.
On March 20, 2003, U.S. forces invaded Iraq under the pretext of deposing the regime of Saddam Hussein, who allegedly possessed weapons of mass destruction. No weapons of mass destruction were subsequently found in Iraq.