BEIRUT — The Syrian government appeared to confirm that it has stockpiles of chemical weapons, in a statement it released Monday that said the weapons would never be used in its domestic conflict against Syrian civilians but could be deployed “in the case of exterior aggression.”
The government’s statement was read at a news conference in Damascus by Jihad Makdissi, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, in an answer to mounting international concerns over the security of Syria’s chemical stockpiles. U.S. officials have said the stockpiles are large and include the nerve agent sarin as well as mustard gas and cyanide.
But Makdissi later said his comments had been misinterpreted, and the government said his references to chemical weapons were only hypothetical in nature.
Asked whether Syria was finally acknowledging that it had chemical weapons, Makdissi began his response by saying that any stock of unconventional weapons or chemical weapons, “if they exist,” won’t be used domestically but would against foreign intervention.
“No chemical or biological weapons will ever be used, and I repeat, will never be used, during the crisis in Syria no matter what the developments inside Syria,” he said. “All of these types of weapons are in storage and under security and the direct supervision of the Syrian armed forces and will never be used unless Syria is exposed to external aggression.”
The information minister, Omran al-Zoubi, told a Damascus radio station that Syria was only discussing the matter because it was being raised abroad. Saying that Syria would not use them against its own people “doesn’t mean that Syria has such weapons in the first place,” al-Zoubi said.
Syria is one of eight countries that has refused to sign the international convention eliminating chemical weapons, and it has always been indirect in referring to its capabilities, using the mystery as a deterrent.
Western governments and experts have said since the late 1980s that Syria is manufacturing, stockpiling and testing chemical weapons.
Last week, U.S. officials who monitor intelligence reports said the Syrian government had begun moving some of the weapons, but it was unclear which specific weapons were being moved, where they were taken or how many were involved. The reports prompted warnings to Syria that using the weapons would cross “a red line,” as well as speculation that Israel or others might intervene in Syria to destroy or secure them.
In interviews over the years, President Bashar Assad has always drawn a distinction between Syria’s complete rejection of nuclear weapons in the region and its attitude toward chemical weapons, saying that Syria had the right to develop such an arsenal.
A U.N. diplomat said that in a meeting earlier in July with Kofi Annan, the special envoy for Syria, Assad had assured the former U.N. secretary-general that the weapons were stored in a safe place.
Assad also told Annan that they would not be used except in the case of foreign invasion, the diplomat said, and that since the weapons were stored in separate components, anyone who captured them would have to know how to combine them before they could be used.
The Syrians are believed to have a large stockpile of blister agents in artillery shells, and nerve agents in bombs and missiles. But Michael Eisenstadt, the director of the military and security studies program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, noted that having the precursors to create the weapons is not the same as having the weapons.
Military experts said leaving the matter ambiguous now was a way to give any foreign powers who might be thinking about invading Syria some pause over the possible consequences. The threat drew swift international condemnation.
At the State Department in Washington, Victoria Nuland said: “Any talk about any use of any kind of a weapon like that in this situation is horrific and chilling. The Syrian regime has a responsibility to the world, has a responsibility first and foremost to its own citizens to protect and safeguard those weapons. And that kind of loose talk just speaks to the kind of regime that we’re talking about.”
Asked about the Syrian statement at a news conference during a trip in Belgrade, Serbia, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said, “It would be reprehensible if anybody in Syria is contemplating use of such weapons of mass destruction, like chemical weapons.”
ACTIVISTS’ VDEO
Security forces appeared to show more government control in videos posted online by activists Monday. Some of the clips show Syrian militia sweeping through Damascus neighborhoods once held by rebels, kicking down doors and searching houses in mop-up operations against the fighters that had managed to hold parts of the capital for much of last week.
It was a different story in Aleppo, however, where the Britain-based Syria Observatory reported fierce fighting in a string of neighborhoods, including Sakhour and Hanano, in the northeast of Syria’s largest city.
Several videos posted by activists showed rebels battling regime tanks in Sakhour’s narrow streets.
In one clip, a tank on fire rumbles along a road after being hit by rebels as a man jumps out of the flaming turret. Other videos showed cheering rebels celebrating around destroyed tanks and driving one they had captured.
IN CASE OF COLLAPSE
Also Monday, an Israeli official said leaders there have discussed with visiting American envoys how to manage a Syrian government collapse.
Israel and the U.S. are concerned that Syria’s chemical weapons could fall into the hands of Islamist militants should the regime in Damascus crumble. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sunday that his country would “have to act” if necessary to safeguard this arsenal from rogue poachers.
Asked whether Israel and the U.S. had discussed managing a Syrian collapse, the Israeli government official said on Monday: “You can presume that these sorts of issues came up with American officials when they visited recently in Israel.”
TOUGHER SANCTIONS
Meanwhile, the European Union strengthened its arms embargo against Syria on Monday and toughened sanctions against supporters of the country’s president, Bashar Assad, in response to worsening violence there.
At a meeting in Brussels, foreign ministers decided that their 27 nations will be required to search airplanes and ships suspected of carrying weapons or other banned equipment into Syria.
They also decided to freeze the assets of and ban visas for 26 more people, and to prevent European companies from doing business with three more entities in Syria. The 26 people were not immediately identified.
“I am deeply concerned at the escalating violence and its tragic consequences for the Syrian population,” Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign-policy chief, said in a statement. “The EU has warned against a further militarization of the conflict. Today we take practical steps toward limiting the supplies that fuel the fighting.”
REFUGEES ALLOWED
In other developments, Jordan’s king has announced that security along the country’s northern frontier has been tightened, but Syrian refugees fleeing violence will still be allowed to enter, officials said Monday.
King Abdullah II said at a Cabinet session late Sunday that government plans to protect the border were “moving in the right direction,” a Royal Court statement said, without providing details.
“It is our duty to protect citizens, but at the same time, we have to open our doors to our Syrian brothers, and I’m very optimistic that the situation is moving in the right direction,” the king said.
Elsewhere, Iraqi state TV said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has formally authorized the entry of Syrian refugees into his country.
No details were released following Monday’s announcement.
Information for this article was contributed by Neil MacFarquhar, Hwaida Saad, Kareem Fahim, Eric Schmitt and Stephen Castle of The New York Times; and by Elizabeth A. Kennedy, Paul Schemm, Ben Hubbard, Albert Aji, Jovanna Gec, Bradley Klapper, Kimberly Dozier, Dave Gavlak and Amy Teibel of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 07/24/2012