'No doubt' Syria retained chem weapons: Mattis
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis yesterday said in Israel that there can be "no doubt" Syria has retained some chemical weapons and warned President Bashar al-Assad's regime not to use them.
Mattis made the comments during a one-day visit for talks with Israeli leaders, who strongly supported a recent US strike against a Syrian airbase in retaliation for an alleged chemical attack on a rebel-held town.
"The bottom line is there can be no doubt in the international community's mind that Syria has retained chemical weapons in violation of its agreement and its statement that it had removed them all," Mattis said during a press conference with Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman.
An Israeli military assessment has found that Assad's regime was still in possession of "a few tonnes" of chemical weapons, an army official confirmed. Some Israeli media reports put the number at between one and three tonnes.
Assad, backed by his ally Russia, has strongly denied the allegation that his forces used chemical weapons against the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun on April 4, describing it as a "100 percent fabrication".
Meanwhile, hundreds of frightened Syrian evacuees were on the move again yesterday after being stuck for 48 hours at a transit point where a bomber killed dozens of their fellow townspeople.
By yesterday afternoon, most of the 45 buses carrying civilians and loyalist fighters from the besieged government-held towns of Fuaa and Kafraya had left the marshalling area in rebel-held Rashidin, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
All of the 11 buses evacuating civilians and fighters from Zabadani and two other rebel-held areas around Damascus were also on the move.
In an interview with Russia's RIA Novosti news agency published yesterday, Assad accused the former al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra now known as Fateh al-Sham Front.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which was condemned by Syria's political opposition and the powerful Ahrar al-Sham rebel group.
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