President Assad outlines US, Israeli plots against Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accused the Israeli regime of providing weaponry and logistical support for terrorists wreaking havoc in the Arab country, saying its proof could be easily accessed on the internet.

In an interview with Venezuela’s Telesur television broadcast on Thursday, Assad said Tel Aviv’s role in the war on Syria included its involvement in a “direct aggression” against Syrian army positions by using warplanes, artillery or missiles.

“Second, it is supporting terrorists in two ways: first by providing direct support in the form of weapons, and second by providing logistic support, i.e. allowing them to conduct military exercises in the areas it controls. It also provides them with medical assistance in its hospitals,” he added.

The Syrian president stressed that those allegations against Israel “are not mere claims or assumptions."

Rather, "they are facts, verified and published on the internet which you can easily access as proven evidence of the Israeli role in support of the terrorists in Syria,” he said.

Israel has carried out multiple attacks on Syrian government positions since the foreign-sponsored militancy erupted in March 2011. Damascus says the raids aim to help Takfiri militants fighting against government forces. 

Earlier on Thursday, Syria said Israel had fired several missiles at a military position near Damascus airport, triggering a huge explosion.

Read more:

• ‘Israeli missiles hit near Damascus airport’

‘Terrorists have chemical weapons’  

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Syrian president said terrorists have used chemical materials “more than once … and in more than one region” in Syria.

He accused the US of having obstructed a probe by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) into a suspected chemical attack in Syria, which the West blamed on the Damascus government.

At least 87 people were killed in the purported gas attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun in Syria’s Idlib province on April 4. Damascus said the incident was a "fabrication" to justify the subsequent US missile strike on Shayrat Airfield in Homs province.

“We still insist on an investigation, and we and our Russian and Iranian allies are trying to persuade OPCW to send a team to investigate what happened, because if it doesn’t, the United States might repeat the same charade by fabricating the use of false chemical weapons in another place in Syria in order to justify military intervention in support of the terrorists,” Assad said.

US lies about Syria possessing chemical weapons

Furthermore, the Syrian president rejected Pentagon claims that Syria had chemical weapons, saying the Americans lie for their own interests.

“This is what characterizes American politicians: they lie on a daily basis, and say something and do something different," he said.

"That’s why we shouldn’t believe what the Pentagon, or any other American institution says, because they say things which serve their policies, not things which reflect reality and the facts on the ground,” he added.

Assad also stressed that the West draws a difference between the so-called moderate and extremist terrorists just for its own political agenda.

“For the United States, all those who serve its political agenda against other states are classified as moderate opposition and not as extremist and terrorist, even if they commit the worst acts of terrorism,” he said.

Asked about Syria’s initiative to put an end to the conflict gripping the country, Assad said Damascus follows both the combat and political paths.

“We said that there are two axes: the first is fighting the terrorists…. The other axis, the political one, includes two points: first, dialog with the different political forces over the future of Syria; and second: local reconciliations,” he added.

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