Syria: Obama skeptical of a chemical weapon attack by rebels
In Israel on Wednesday, U.S. President Barack Obama reiterated his view that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a 'red line.' The Assad regime would be 'held accountable' if they were to use chemical weapons, said Obama.
In this Tuesday image, black smoke rises from a building due to Syrian government forces shelling, in Aleppo, Syria. Syria's main opposition group demanded a full international investigation into an alleged chemical weapons attack in the country's north, Wednesday.
AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center, AMC
JERUSALEM
President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the United States is investigating whether chemical weapons have been deployed in Syria, but he's "deeply skeptical" of claims by Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime that rebel forces were behind such an attack.
Both the Assad regime and Syrian rebels have accused each other of using chemical weapons in an attack on Tuesday that the government says killed 31 and wounded more than 100. But Obama suggested it's more likely that if the weapons were used, the Syrian government was behind the attack.
"We know the Syrian government has the capacity to carry out chemical weapon attacks," Obama said. "We know that there are those are in the Syrian government who have expressed a willingness to use chemical weapons if necessary to protect themselves. I am deeply skeptical of any claim that in fact it was the opposition that used chemical weapons. Everybody who knows the facts of the chemical weapons stockpiles inside of Syria as well as the Syrian government capabilities, I think, would question those claims."
Page 1 of 4
