Syria launched a blistering verbal attack on Monday on “Western” countries that have accused it of using chemical weapons in its deadly five-year conflict, calling the allegations “a campaign of lies”.
“The multitude of accusations, made in some Western circles without any tangible evidence, as to the responsibility of the Syrian Government in cases of use of toxic chemicals are but a part of a coordinated and repeated campaign of lies,” Syria’s deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad said.
He was speaking at the annual conference of countries belonging to the Chemical Weapons Convention, an arms treaty that bounds all its member states to help rid the world of chemical weapons.
Over 300,000 people have been killed since Syria’s conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. Both the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Islamic State group have been accused of unleashing toxic arms.