LONDON
The Representative of the Syrian National Coalition in London, Waled Saffour, warned that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad would not surrender all the chemical weapons in his possession.
Saffour cautioned that the Assad regime would hide some agents to remanufacture sarin gas for its use against the Syrian people when his forces faced defeat.
Replying to the questions of Anadolu Agency, he noted that the Russian proposal to place the regime's chemical weapons under international supervision came after the Russians realised that a strike was about to hit Syria.
"Russia and the Syrian regime resorted to tricking the international community in another way," stressed Saffour, adding, "However their trick unleashed their utter lies about the use of chemical weapons as the proposal confirms the use of chemical weapons by Assad's regime. I believe it is another maneuver to save Bashar's regime from punishment, if they succeeded then another strike could be on the way."
Saffour warned, "Assad is a big liar. He is well known for committing follies. He will not surrender all the chemical weapons in his possession, he will hide some agents to remanufacture sarin gas to prepare himself to gas the Syrian people when he is about to be defeated."
"America's prestige will be lowered"
Regarding the US position on the Syria debate, Saffour noted that he did not exclude the possibility that Obama might not use force.
"A long period will be spent on technicalities, therefore the strike will lose its momentum value. On the other hand, America's prestige as a super power will be lowered by a weak president's --Obama-- inaction. If the US does not strike within the remaining of the month from the day of the strike -- September 21st -- they will never hit," he said.
Saffour assessed the proposal as a "delaying tactic" to give the Syrian regime another chance to kill and to enter the Geneva 2 conference with better chances.
In reponse to a question about the Assad regime possibly conducting chemical attacks during the mentioned period, Saffour replied, "I do not exclude the possibility because [Assad] is losing Damascus gradually which means his end. Additionally, he is not in control beside ambitious generals who do not mind involving him to better their chances in replacing him."
The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, commonly known as the Syrian National Coalition, was officially recognized by the United Kingdom last year and the Coalition appointed Waled Saffour as their ambassador to the UK.
Meanwhile, experts on chemical weapons mentioned that the Syrian regime's signing the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), an arms control agreement, would not be sufficient as permission would have to be given for inspectors to enter the country.
Dr. Patricia Lewis, a chemical weapons expert and Research Director of the International Security Department at leading British think tank Chatham House told Anadolu Agency that the regime had to permit chemical weapons experts from Russian and US military forces to secure the chemical supplies and render them safe for removal from Syria.
Lewis emphasized that chemical weapons were being destroyed every day in special facilities around the world, the two largest being in the US and Russia.
Dr. Lewis added that chemical weapons could be rendered safe in two ways: "One chemically, in which the chemicals are combined with other chemicals to make them into new compounds, or through enclosed, very high temperature incineration."
Drawing attention to the example of Libya, she stressed, "In 2003 Libya agreed to turn over its chemical stockpile to the US and the UK for disposal and join the CWC. However, as it was made apparent later, there were major shortcomings in the Libyan declaration. After the 2011 military intervention and the end of the Gaddafi regime, undisclosed stocks were handed over by the transitional government."
Lewis also commented that the coming process would depend on whether the US, France and Russia could agree, rather than on the attitude of Assad.
Reporting by Asli Aral - Writing by Inci Gundag
englishnews@aa.com.tr
