MOSCOW. April 21 (Interfax) - The April 4 chemical attack in Syria's Idlib governorate was faked by the U.S. military in order to change U.S. President Donald Trump's stance on the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad said.
"The American administration said at the beginning that Bashar al-Assad was fighting against terrorism and they were no longer focusing on making him leave power but on combating terrorism represented by ISIL [Islamic State terrorist organization, outlawed in Russia]. The U.S. military community was not happy about these statements. In a week's time, they put pressure on the administration, and the events in Khan Sheikhun allegedly involving the use of chemical weapons were fabricated," Haddad said at a meeting at the Russian Federation Council on Friday.
"The American president said after that, "I am against Bashar al-Assad", and the following day he directed Tomahawks against our Shayrat military airfield," the Syrian diplomat said in outlining his theory of the events.
"Syria has never used and will not use chemical weapons for one simple reason: there are none of them in our territory," the ambassador said.