A US missile strike on a Syrian airfield three days after a chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun in April indicates that the strike was planned ahead of time and the chemical attack was staged, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told journalists.
"Based on the fabricated facts of the terrorists who said that the Syria Arab Army was guilty of a chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun, the United States immediately conducted a missile strike [at the Syrian governmental military airfield in Ash Sha’irat on April 7], even before the investigation began. They made the decision in advance, and this indicates that the attack was staged," he said.
The Syrian leadership will provide all necessary conditions for the work of the commission investigating the circumstances of the chemical attack in Idlib, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told reporters in Damascus.
"The team to investigate the circumstances of the chemical attack will arrive in Damascus in the coming days. The Syrian government will ensure all conditions for its work," Mekdad said.
On April 21, Assad told Sputnik that there was no chemical weapon attack in Idlib, adding that the reports of it were a false flag and fabrication which was supposed to justify a US missile strike on the Syrian airbase.
On June 20, the OPCW said that its fact-finding mission confirmed that man-made chemical sarin, a gas used as a chemical weapon, was used in Khan Shaikhoun in Idlib in early April, but did not determine who was responsible. None of the experts of the OPCW mission and the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism visited the place of the incident.
