Assad says chemical attack a ‘fabrication’

The embattled leader, whose country has been ravaged by six years of war, said his firepower had not been affected by the attack ordered by US President Donald Trump, but acknowledged further strikes were possible. 

Assad insisted his forces had turned over all their chemical weapons stocks years ago and would never use the banned arms. The exclusive interview with AFP in Damascus on Wednesday was his first since a suspected chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun. 

“Definitely, 100 per cent for us, it’s fabrication,” he said of the incident. “Our impression is that the West, mainly the United States, is hand-in-glove with the terrorists. They fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext for the attack,” added Assad, who has been in power for 17 years. At least 87 people, including 31 children, were killed in the alleged attack, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. But Assad said evidence came only from “a branch of Al- Qaeda,” referring to a former jihadist affiliate that is among the groups that control Idlib province, where Khan Sheikhun is located. 

Images of the aftermath, showing victims convulsing and foaming at the mouth, sent shockwaves around the world. But Assad insisted it was “not clear whether it happened or not, because how can you verify a video? You have a lot of fake videos now.” “We don’t know whether those dead children were killed in Khan Sheikhun. Were they dead at all?” He said Khan Sheikhun had no strategic value and was not currently a battle front.