Defected Syrian General: Assad Retains Hundreds of Tons of Chemicals Weapons
Former Syrian weapons research chief believes the undisclosed stockpile includes several hundred tons of sarin and so-called precursor chemicals used to make the nerve agent, as well as aerial bombs that could be filled with chemical agents and chemical warheads for Scud missiles
Dan Arkin
| 20/04/2017
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (Photo: AP)
President Bashar al-Assad continues to retain hundreds of tons of his country's chemical stockpile after deceiving United Nations inspectors sent in to dismantle it, according to Syria’s former chemical weapons research chief and other experts. Brig. Gen. Zaher al-Sakat – who served as head of chemical warfare in the powerful 5th Division of the military until he defected in 2013 – told The Telegraph that Assad’s regime failed to declare large amounts of sarin and its precursor chemicals.
Syria handed over what it said was its entire chemical arsenal to the UN’s Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in 2014 under a deal negotiated by the US and Russia after hundreds of people were killed in a sarin gas attack in the outskirts of the capital, Damascus. The agreement averted US military strikes and the Obama administration declared one of the world’s biggest chemical weapons stockpiles “100 per cent eliminated”.
“They [the regime] admitted only to 1,300 tons, but we knew in reality they had nearly double that,” said Brig Gen Sakat, who was one of the most senior figures in the country’s chemical program. “They had at least 2,000 tons. At least.”
Brig. Gen. Sakat believes the undisclosed stockpile includes several hundred tons of sarin and so-called precursor chemicals used to make the nerve agent, as well as aerial bombs that could be filled with chemical agents and chemical warheads for Scud missiles.
Sakat, a 53-year-old general who maintained contact with officials inside Syria after his defection in March 2013, said that in the weeks and months before the OPCW inspectors arrived the regime was busy moving its hoard. He said tons of the chemicals were transported to the heavily fortified mountains outside Homs and to the coastal city of Jableh, near Tartus, where the Syrians and Russians have their largest military base.
According to Brig. Gen. Sakat, the regime has not been manufacturing more nerve agents since 2014. “They don’t need any more, they have all they need already,” he told The Telegraph, speaking from a country in Europe he asked not to be disclosed to ensure his safety.
Brig. Gen. Sakat believes the regime has also experimented with mixing different gases – like sarin and tear gas – in order to create a mélange of symptoms that would make the cause hard to identify.
The Syrian government has repeatedly denied bombing Khan Sheikhoun with chemicals, saying its air strikes hit a warehouse the opposition had been using to store toxic materials. He confirmed that only the head of the army, namely Assad, has the authority to order nerve gas attacks because of the potential fallout. However, those involving chlorine and other less-deadly chemicals can be signed off by senior local commanders trusted by the regime, usually those from the same Alawite sect as the president.
In the months before he defected, Brig. Gen. Sakat said he was personally ordered by his commander, Gen Ali Hassan Amar, to carry out three chemical attacks. They took place in October 2012 on the southern town of Sheikh Maskeen, in December 2012 on nearby Harak, and in January 2013 on Busra al-Harir – all places where demonstrations had been taking place against Assad. He was told the people “needed to be reorientated."
He was told to prepare phosgene, which at high concentrations damages the lungs within seconds and causes death by suffocation. But under the cover of darkness he switched it for water and diluted bleach which would cause no real harm.
[Source: The Telegraph]
Former Syrian weapons research chief believes the undisclosed stockpile includes several hundred tons of sarin and so-called precursor chemicals used to make the nerve agent, as well as aerial bombs that could be filled with chemical agents and chemical warheads for Scud missiles
President Bashar al-Assad continues to retain hundreds of tons of his country's chemical stockpile after deceiving United Nations inspectors sent in to dismantle it, according to Syria’s former chemical weapons research chief and other experts. Brig. Gen. Zaher al-Sakat – who served as head of chemical warfare in the powerful 5th Division of the military until he defected in 2013 – told The Telegraph that Assad’s regime failed to declare large amounts of sarin and its precursor chemicals.
Syria handed over what it said was its entire chemical arsenal to the UN’s Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in 2014 under a deal negotiated by the US and Russia after hundreds of people were killed in a sarin gas attack in the outskirts of the capital, Damascus. The agreement averted US military strikes and the Obama administration declared one of the world’s biggest chemical weapons stockpiles “100 per cent eliminated”.
“They [the regime] admitted only to 1,300 tons, but we knew in reality they had nearly double that,” said Brig Gen Sakat, who was one of the most senior figures in the country’s chemical program. “They had at least 2,000 tons. At least.”
Brig. Gen. Sakat believes the undisclosed stockpile includes several hundred tons of sarin and so-called precursor chemicals used to make the nerve agent, as well as aerial bombs that could be filled with chemical agents and chemical warheads for Scud missiles.
Sakat, a 53-year-old general who maintained contact with officials inside Syria after his defection in March 2013, said that in the weeks and months before the OPCW inspectors arrived the regime was busy moving its hoard. He said tons of the chemicals were transported to the heavily fortified mountains outside Homs and to the coastal city of Jableh, near Tartus, where the Syrians and Russians have their largest military base.
According to Brig. Gen. Sakat, the regime has not been manufacturing more nerve agents since 2014. “They don’t need any more, they have all they need already,” he told The Telegraph, speaking from a country in Europe he asked not to be disclosed to ensure his safety.
Brig. Gen. Sakat believes the regime has also experimented with mixing different gases – like sarin and tear gas – in order to create a mélange of symptoms that would make the cause hard to identify.
The Syrian government has repeatedly denied bombing Khan Sheikhoun with chemicals, saying its air strikes hit a warehouse the opposition had been using to store toxic materials. He confirmed that only the head of the army, namely Assad, has the authority to order nerve gas attacks because of the potential fallout. However, those involving chlorine and other less-deadly chemicals can be signed off by senior local commanders trusted by the regime, usually those from the same Alawite sect as the president.
In the months before he defected, Brig. Gen. Sakat said he was personally ordered by his commander, Gen Ali Hassan Amar, to carry out three chemical attacks. They took place in October 2012 on the southern town of Sheikh Maskeen, in December 2012 on nearby Harak, and in January 2013 on Busra al-Harir – all places where demonstrations had been taking place against Assad. He was told the people “needed to be reorientated."
He was told to prepare phosgene, which at high concentrations damages the lungs within seconds and causes death by suffocation. But under the cover of darkness he switched it for water and diluted bleach which would cause no real harm.
[Source: The Telegraph]
