UNSC to vote on probe into alleged chemical incident in Syria’s Douma (WATCH LIVE)

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Moscow to Trump: Are ‘smart’ missiles an attempt to destroy alleged chem attack evidence in Syria?
Published time: 11 Apr, 2018 11:43
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Moscow to Trump: Are ‘smart’ missiles an attempt to destroy alleged chem attack evidence in Syria?
Responding to a threat from US President Donald Trump, who said Russia should prepare for “nice new and smart missiles” launched by America at Syria, Moscow said if the weapons were smart, they would target terrorists.
“Smart missiles should fly towards terrorists, not [Syria’s] lawful government, which has spent several years fighting against international terrorism on its territory,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in response to Trump’s tweet on Wednesday.

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Trump: Get ready Russia, missiles will be coming at Syria, nice and new and ‘smart’!
Published time: 11 Apr, 2018 11:06
Edited time: 11 Apr, 2018 12:51
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Trump: Get ready Russia, missiles will be coming at Syria, nice and new and ‘smart’!
Mark Wilson / Global Look Press
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Donald Trump warned Russia to "get ready" after Moscow vowed to shoot any missiles fired at Syria down. "They will be coming, nice and new and smart," Trump tweeted.
Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump
 Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia,  because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!
11:57 AM - Apr 11, 2018
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The tweet appears to be an unofficial announcement of the "major decisions" which Trump said Washington would soon be making regarding the alleged chemical attack in Syria.

It comes after Russia vowed to shoot down any US missiles aimed at Syria. “If there is an American strike, then we... will shoot down the missiles and target the positions from where they were launched,” Alexander Zasypkin, the Russian envoy to Beirut, said on Wednesday. “In the past few days, we have seen an escalation towards a significant crisis."

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FILE PHOTO: An S-400 air defence missile system. Dmitriy VinogradovAny US missiles fired at Syria will be shot down, launch sites targeted – Russian envoy to Lebanon
The Pentagon said in a statement that it "does not comment on potential future military actions," and referred any questions regarding Trump's tweet to the White House.

Trump has been quick to point the finger at Syrian President Bashar Assad regarding the alleged chemical attack, despite the fact that investigators from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have yet to begin an official investigation into the matter.

His allegations also come after the Russian military traveled to the scene of the alleged incident and determined that there was no evidence of any chemical attack.

READ MORE: No trace of chemical weapons at alleged attack site in Douma – Russian military
https://www.rt.com/news/423627-russian-military-checks-chemical-douma/
Trump isn't the only US official to prematurely point the finger at Assad. US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley was quick to call him a "monster" following reports of the alleged attack. She referred to the Syrian government as a "murderous regime."

Meanwhile, Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia has warned against the US carrying out an "illegal military endeavor," adding that he hopes Washington "comes to its senses."

Trump has been holding calls with his British and French counterparts. It remains unclear whether the UK will take part in military action, after a report in The Times suggested that Prime Minister Theresa May is waiting until there's evidence of Syria's culpability for the alleged attack.
No trace of chemical weapons at alleged attack site in Douma – Russian military
Published time: 9 Apr, 2018 17:20
Edited time: 10 Apr, 2018 09:04
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No trace of chemical weapons at alleged attack site in Douma – Russian military
A photo showing a child being washed after what the White Helmets and other anti-government groups in Syria claim was a chemical weapons attack in Douma, Eastern Ghouta, on April 7. The Russian military says the photos were staged. Reuters
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The Russian military has found no trace of chemical weapons use after searching parts of Syria’s Douma allegedly targeted by an “attack.” Photos of victims posted by the White Helmets are fake, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.
Experts in radiological, chemical and biological warfare, as well as medics, on Monday inspected the parts of the Eastern Ghouta city of Douma, where an alleged chemical attack supposedly took place on Saturday, the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria said in a statement.
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FILE PHOTO: Syrian soldiers are seen in the rebel-held Douma district in the Eastern Ghouta countryside, Syria, on March 28, 2018. Ammar SafarjalaniMoscow calls ‘chemical attack’ in Douma ‘fake news,’ warns against Syrian intervention
The specialists “found no traces of the use of chemical agents” after searching the sites, the statement said. The center’s medical specialists also visited a local hospital but found no patients that showed signs of chemical weapons poisoning. “All these facts show… that no chemical weapons were used in the town of Douma, as it was claimed by the White Helmets,” the statement said, referring to the controversial “civil defense” group that was among the first to report about the alleged attack.

“All the accusations brought by the White Helmets, as well as their photos… allegedly showing the victims of the chemical attack, are nothing more than a yet another piece of fake news and an attempt to disrupt the ceasefire,” the Reconciliation Center said.

On Saturday, some rebel-linked groups, including the White Helmets, accused the Syrian government of carrying out a chemical attack that, allegedly, affected dozens of civilians in the Eastern Ghouta town of Douma. The reports have already provoked a wave of outrage in the West, as the US and the EU rushed to put the blame for the incident on Damascus and Moscow. US President Donald Trum hastily denounced the perceived attack as a “mindless” atrocity and a “humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever,” warning of a “big price” to be paid.

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Syrian troops stand next to buses carrying militants and their families before they are evacuated, at Harasta highway outside Jobar, in Damascus, Syria March 25, 2018.  Omar Sanadiki‘Syria gases own people just as Trump mulls withdrawal?’ Journalists question Douma ‘chem attack’
Syria and Russia have dismissed the accusations and called the reports fake news, aimed at helping the extremists and at justifying potential strikes against Syrian forces. In the very early hours of Monday, Israeli fighter jets targeted Syria’s T-4 airbase in Homs province, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Israel has not commented on the strike. Earlier, a number of Israeli officials had called on the US to strike Syria as a response to the reported chemical attack.

Trump has promised to decide on potential actions against Syria within 24-48 hours, adding that nothing is “off the table” yet. Earlier, US Defense Secretary James Mattis said that the US did not rule out a potential military action against Damascus.

The White Helmets claim to be volunteer first-responders saving Syrians caught up in the fighting. They gained traction in the western media and rose to prominence during the Battle of Aleppo in 2016, while working exclusively in the militant-controlled areas of the city and becoming one of the most widely used sources of information and visual materials in the West.

The people on the ground in Aleppo, however, told RT’s Murad Gazdiev that the White Helmets were working closely with the militants and saving only “their own.” Local witnesses also accused the “activists” of looting the humanitarian aid that was coming into the city and of forcing the locals to read fake anti-government statements on camera, in return for food.


https://www.rt.com/news/423530-syria-douma-chemical-timing-reaction/
‘Syria gases own people just as Trump mulls withdrawal?’ Journalists question Douma ‘chem attack’
Published time: 8 Apr, 2018 18:57
Edited time: 9 Apr, 2018 06:42
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‘Syria gases own people just as Trump mulls withdrawal?’ Journalists question Douma ‘chem attack’
Syrian troops stand next to buses carrying militants and their families before they are evacuated, at Harasta highway outside Jobar, in Damascus, Syria March 25, 2018. Omar Sanadiki / Reuters
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Not everybody is buying into reports of a chemical attack by Syria’s government in Douma, with online critics saying the claims conveniently coincide with Donald Trump's plans to leave Syria and the withdrawal of Ghouta militants.
Anti-government activists, including the notorious White Helmets civil defense group, on Saturday blamed the Syrian authorities of using chemical weapons in the militant-held town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta, saying that dozens of civilians were killed and hundreds affected.

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FILE PHOTO: A man walks on rubble of damaged buildings in the town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta Bassam KhabiehUS holds Russia ‘ultimately responsible’ amid reports of dozens gassed in Syria’s Douma
The claims have renewed calls for a Syria intervention by the West, while Damascus said they were a "fabrication" and Russia's Foreign Ministry on Sunday called them "fake news."

While a media storm immediately followed, accusing Syria's Bashar Assad of heinous crimes and predicting a new US strike against Damascus forces in response, journalists with knowledge of events on the ground in Syria wondered aloud if the claims should be treated with a grain of salt.

Independent journalist Vanessa Beeley, who visited the Syrian frontline on numerous occasions, said the chemical attack report, quickly picked up by mainstream media, was "also 100 percent lie," pointing out that the White Helmets group had been caught producing fakes before. 

The timing of the alleged chemical attack claims was questioned by journalist Caitlin Johnstone, who pointed out that reports spread "just as Trump was seeking a withdrawal from Syria and just as [Syrian President Bashar] Assad was approaching victory in Douma."

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vanessa beeley
@VanessaBeeley
Ответ пользователю @VanessaBeeley
Also 100% lie - the Syrian government's "use of chemical weapons against its own people" is very much in "dispute. #Syria #Not_A_Revolution

3:24 - 8 апр. 2018 г.
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In her article on the Medium website, Johnstone doubted the credibility of the White Helmets as a source, due to their "extremely suspicious western funding and terrorist ties", also reminding readers of the Western governments' "extensive history of using lies, propaganda and false flags to manufacture support for military aggression."

The chemical attack on his own people, certain to "provoke the wrath of the US war machine," would mean that "Assad spontaneously began acting against his own self-interest," the journalist wrote. She decried the influence of the mainstream media, which she said makes such news "easier to believe that Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin are deliberately killing civilians with poisonous gas for no reason whatsoever than to believe that the same empire which deceived us into Iraq is deceiving us into Iraq's next-door neighbor Syria."

US journalist Rania Khalek said that the timing of the alleged attack was "crazy" because it has emerged when the Syrian government was in its strongest position during the whole conflict and Trump said he wanted US troops out of the country.
Rania Khalek

@RaniaKhalek
Ответ пользователю @RaniaKhalek
How incredibly convenient for all those people who lost there shit about trump calling for the US to pullout of Syria https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/982996158787325954?s=21 …
17:55 - 8 апр. 2018 г.
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"Odd how every time Trump suggests he might leave Syria or back off, Assad (who would love the US out) suddenly inexplicably uses chemical weapons and screws himself. How convenient for the players who are desperate to get the US more deeply involved," freelance journalist Danielle Ryan tweeted. 

Other commentators online also argued that the reports of a chemical attack were actually aimed at dragging the US deeper into the Syrian conflict. 
Yossi Gestetner

@YossiGestetner
Ответ пользователю @Evan_McMullin
Makes “totally sense” that Assad launches a chemical attack days after Trump says he wants to leave Syria thus forcing Trump to be there longer... Right? The attack is obviously from interests who want the US to in Syria where it weakens Assad. How stupid can u be not to see it?
15:20 - 8 апр. 2018 г.
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Sarah Abdallah
@sahouraxo
 So just after Trump says it’s time for US troops to leave Syria, and directly following the Syrian government fully liberating Eastern Ghouta, Assad decides to unleash chemical weapons that he doesn’t even have? 

Yeah. Something just doesn’t seem quite right with this picture

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Russia blocks US resolution in UNSC on probe into alleged chemical incident in Syria
Published time: 10 Apr, 2018 19:20
Edited time: 10 Apr, 2018 20:53
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Russia blocks US resolution in UNSC on probe into alleged chemical incident in Syria
FILE PHOTO. The UN Security Council meets on Syria in New York, US on April 9, 2018. Brendan McDermid / Reuters
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Russia has vetoed a US-sponsored resolution on the alleged chemical incident in Syria in a UN Security Council vote. The draft was designed to fail and thus “justify” unauthorized action in Syria, Russia’s UN envoy said.
“If you made a decision to carry out an illegal military endeavour, we hope that you will come to your senses. You will be responsible for it yourselves,” Russia’s envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, warned.

The US-sponsored resolution has received 12 votes in favor, two against and one abstention. As Russia used its veto right, the resolution was not adopted. The Russian-sponsored resolution did not get the minimum nine votes needed to pass, with six votes for, seven against and two abstentions.

READ MORE: OPCW to send chemical weapons investigators to Syria’s Douma – statement

Nebenzia said the US resolution, despite Washington claiming to take Moscow’s concerns into consideration, was effectively an attempt to resurrect the deprecated Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM). Even if the US project was adopted, it would take months to implement, the diplomat said, adding that the draft was a “provocative step” that had “nothing to do with the desire to investigate the Douma incident.” He said it was obviously designed to fail in order to serve as a justification for unauthorized military action against Syria.

“Why do you need the attribution mechanism, if you’ve already named the perpetrators before any investigation?” Nebenzia said, referring to blatant accusations against Damascus coming from the US and its allies.


US envoy Nikki Haley claimed that the Moscow-sponsored document would breach the principle of impartiality and give Russia a tool to “choose investigators” and influence the probe by other means. During the meeting, Haley, as well other members of the UNSC, such as the UK and France, again pinned the blame for the alleged incident on Damascus, accusing Moscow of “shielding” Syria’s President Bashar Assad.

China has supported the Russian-sponsored draft resolution, stating that it would be a great improvement over the previous UN-sponsored investigative bodies for Syria. The Russian project would allow for a “robust on-site investigation, ensure procedure impartiality,” which would be able to make “credible conclusions,” China said, expressing regrets that the draft was not adopted.

Russia and the US have separately requested a vote on their draft resolutions on Douma. The alleged attack was reported on Saturday by anti-government groups, which claimed that the Syrian Army dropped a chlorine-filled munition on the area, affecting dozens of civilians. However, no solid facts on the purported incident have emerged yet.

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