Russia Compares Syria Chemical Weapons Probe To WMD Search In Iraq

[HuffingtonPost]

By Megan Davies and Steve Gutterman                

MOSCOW, April 6 (Reuters) - Russia criticised Western moves  to expand a planned United Nations probe into chemical weapons  in Syria and compared it to the build-up to the U.S. invasion of  Iraq.                

Russia, which has used its clout as a veto-wielding  Security Council state to blunt Western pressure on Syria, says  the U.N. probe announced last month should focus on Syrian  government allegations rebels used chemical arms near Aleppo.                

Western countries want two additional rebel claims about  the use of such arms investigated as well. The Syrian opposition  says President Bashar al-Assad's government carried out all  three alleged chemical attacks.                

In a pointed statement, Russia's Foreign Ministry on  Saturday voiced anger over a letter in which it said the U.N.  Secretariat told the Syrian government it intended to broaden  the investigation beyond the incident in late March near Aleppo.                                

It said the U.N. Secretariat was seeking overly broad access  for investigators to facilities and individuals in Syria and  wanted to use aircraft for transportation.                

"This approach brings to mind the line taken over an  investigation into the presence of chemical weapons in Iraq,  which was based on deliberately false data and led to well-known  consequences," it said, referring to the U.S.-led invasion in  2003.                

"We cannot fail to draw the conclusion that under pressure  from certain states, the U.N. Secretariat is taking an  unconstructive and inconsistent position that in essence  undermines the investigation (into the incident near Aleppo),"  it said, without mentioning U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon  by name.                

Last month, Russia accused Western nations of trying to use  the investigation to push Assad from power and said the probe  might be biased unless Russian and Chinese experts were part of  the team of investigators.                

Russia says that it does not intend to prop up Assad but  that his departure from power must not be a precondition for a  political solution to the conflict.                

More than 70,000 people have been killed during Syria's  two-year conflict.        (Reporting by Megan Davies and Steve Gutterman; Editing by  Jason Webb)

Via: HuffingtonPost