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Russia Calls on OPCW Not To Allow Provocation With Chem Weapons in Idlib - Envoy

© Sputnik / Morad Saeed

MIDDLE EAST

11:41 12.09.2018(updated 12:16 12.09.2018)Get short URL

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Earlier, the Russian defense ministry warned that it had intelligence indicating that militants in the beseiged terrorist-held Syrian province of Idlib had started making footage of fake 'chemical attacks' in an effort to discredit the Syrian government.

Russia's permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Alexander Shulgin has called on the organization not to allow provocations involving the use of chemical weapons in Idlib.

"[The OPCW] must bring its weight to bear on the matter and not allow this provocation to take place," Shulgin said, speaking to Ruptly. "A number of delegations have agreed with this view. We stressed that everything possible must be done to prevent a provocation," the official added.

On Tuesday, the Russian military reported that it had evidence to suggest that members of the controversial White Helmets rescue group were planning to film video footage "showing 'activists'…'helping' the residents of Jisr al-Shughur" in northwest Idlib following a fabricated attack by the Syrian army using so-called barrel bombs filled with poisonous substances. For this purpose, the military warned, militants had brought to containers filled with chlorine toxins to the area to make the provocation seem authentic.

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'It's a Trap!'

According to the military, all footage showing provocations involving chemical weapons use in Jisr al-Shughur would be handed over to regional and international broadcasters, several of whom had sent video crews to the area, and be released on social media, by Tuesday evening.

Syrian and Russian officials have repeatedly warned about the dangers of new false flag provocations in Idlib, the last major stronghold of anti-government forces including Islamist terrorist groups, in recent weeks. Such fake attacks, they've said, would provide the US and its allies with a pretext to launch new attacks against Damascus. In late August, the Russian military reported on the deployment of US naval and air forces around Syria in the Mediterranean Sea and Qatar which could strike in the aftermath of any new provocations.

The US, the UK and France attacked Syria on April 14, 2018 in response to the Syrian military's alleged use of chemical weapons in East Ghouta. The 'evidence' used for that attack, which included video footage of members of the White Helmets 'treating victims' in a local hospital, has since been thoroughly discredited. Before that, on April 7, 2017, the US attacked Syria's Shayrat airbase following a similar provocation in Homs province.