France gives Syrians sarin treatment kits
AFP June 23, 20133:54AM
France has given the Syrian opposition sarin treatment kits to protect them from the deadly nerve gas. Source: AFP
FRANCE has provided the Syrian opposition with treatment kits against the effects of the deadly sarin nerve gas.
France has sent "treatments that can protect a thousand people," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters following a "Friends of Syria" meeting in Qatar.
"This says a lot about the damage (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad has caused to his people," said Mr Fabius.
Sarin, a deadly nerve gas which the United States has said the Syrian regime has used against rebel forces, was developed by Nazi scientists in 1938.
Originally conceived as a pesticide, sarin was used by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime to gas thousands of Kurds in the northern town of Halabja in 1988.
Earlier this month Mr Fabius said that experts had analysed samples brought back from Syria and concluded that the deadly nerve agent had been used several times. Britain has echoed his remarks.
Saturday's meeting of the "Friends of Syria" group agreed to offer military aid to rebels in the war-hit country, as loyalists make apparent gains on the battlefield.
Ministers from Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States attended the talks.
The United States, Britain and France have accused the Assad regime of using banned arms, including the sarin gas, in attacks that have killed scores of people.
Damascus has repeatedly denied such accusations.
