DAMASCUS: The Syrian government on Wednesday denied it possessed chemical weapons and branded the use of such arms “immoral and unacceptable”, following a French warning of punitive strikes.

As Damascus dismissed suspicions of chlorine attacks on rebel-held areas including besieged Eastern Ghouta, the first aid convoy since November entered the battered enclave near the capital.

“Syria’s government categorically denies possessing... chemical weapons,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, quoted by state news agency SANA. “We consider the use of such arms as immoral and unacceptable, whatever the context.”

Earlier, France’s President Emmanuel Macron warned his country would launch strikes if proof emerged that the Syrian regime had used banned chemical weapons against its civilians.

According to Washington, at least six chlorine attacks have been reported since early January in rebel-held areas, resulting in dozens of injuries.

Damascus last month also denied carrying out chemical attacks and its ally Moscow denounced such charges as a “propaganda campaign”, stressing the perpetrators had not been identified.

France, like the United States, suspects the Syrian regime but says it does not yet have concrete evidence on the nature and origin of the attacks.

Damascus has repeatedly been accused of using chemical weapons, despite a 2013 deal between the United States and Russia for Syria to destroy its stockpiles.

The United Nations was among those who blamed government forces for an April 2017 sarin gas attack on the opposition-held village of Khan Sheikhun that left scores dead.

In retaliation for that alleged attack, the United States carried out cruise missile strikes on a Syrian regime airbase.

As Assad’s opponents ratcheted up pressure, there was some respite with the arrival of the first aid convoy in months in rebel Eastern Ghouta after intensive bombardments last week killed 250 civilians.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2018