Gabriel: Russia backs Syrian chemicals attack probe
April 10, 2017
Russia will support a probe into the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has said. He also warned the US against further military escalation.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Meissner
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Gabriel (above right) said in an interview on Sunday evening that his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov (above left) had told him in a telephone conversation that Moscow would "clear the way to investigate what actually happened there."
Speaking to German public broadcaster ZDF, Gabriel added he hoped it was "a serious offer."
At least 80 civilians died in the air attack on the town in rebel-held Idlib province last week, prompting an international outcry.
The US accused the regime of President Bashar al-Assad of using chlorine gas mixed with a highly toxic sarin-like nerve agent in an air attack. Gabriel said that information Germany has received suggested state forces were behind the attack and reiterated that "further military escalation" must be prevented.
"You can not pretend to just talk with Russia and the US, this is also about Iran, Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries," he said.
An attempt should be made to "use this moment of fear on all sides to get the various parties to the negotiating table," Gabriel said. Above all, Russia must be dissuaded from "this unbreakable fidelity to Assad."
Who's fighting in the Syria conflict?
Syria's civil war erupted out of the Arab Spring protests that swept much of the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. The conflict has since drawn in multiple warring factions from around the world.
Image: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
War with no end
Syria has been engulfed in a devastating civil war since 2011 after Syrian President Bashar Assad lost control over large parts of the country to multiple revolutionary groups. The conflict has since drawn in foreign powers and brought misery and death to Syrians.
Image: picture alliance/abaca/A. Al-Bushy
The dictator
Syria's army, officially known as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), is loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is fighting to restore the president's rule over the entire country. The SAA has been fighting alongside a number of pro-Assad militias such as the National Defense Force and has cooperated with military advisors from Russia and Iran, which back Assad.
Turkey, which is also part of the US-led coalition against IS, has actively supported rebels opposed to Assad. It has a tense relationship with its American allies over US cooperation with Kurdish fighters, who Ankara says are linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting in Turkey. Turkey has launched multiple military offensives targeting Kurdish militias.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/L. Pitarakis
The eastern guardian
The Kremlin has proven to be a powerful friend to Assad. Russian air power and ground troops officially joined the fight in September 2015 after years of supplying the Syrian army. Moscow has come under fire from the international community for the high number of civilian casualties during its airstrikes. However, Russia's intervention turned the tide in war in favor of Assad.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tass/M. Metzel
The western allies
A US-led coalition of more than 50 countries, including Germany, began targeting IS and other terrorist targets with airstrikes in late 2014. The anti-IS coalition has dealt major setbacks to the militant group. The US has more than a thousand special forces in the country backing the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/A.Brandon
The rebels
The Free Syrian Army grew out of protests against the Assad regime that eventually turned violent. Along with other non-jihadist rebel groups, it seeks the ouster of President Assad and democratic elections. After suffering a number of defeats, many of its members defected to hardline militant groups. It garnered some support from the US and Turkey, but its strength has been greatly diminished.
Image: Reuters
The resistance
Fighting between Syrian Kurds and Islamists has become its own conflict. The US-led coalition against the "Islamic State" has backed the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. The Kurdish YPG militia is the main component of the SDF. The Kurds have had a tacit understanding with Assad.
Image: Getty Images/A. Sik
The new jihadists
"Islamic State" (IS) took advantage of regional chaos to capture vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Seeking to establish its own "caliphate," IS has become infamous for its fundamentalist brand of Islam and its mass atrocities. IS is on the brink of defeat after the US and Russia led separate military campaigns against the militant group.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
The old jihadists
IS is not the only terrorist group that has ravaged Syria. A number of jihadist militant groups are fighting in the conflict, warring against various rebel factions and the Assad regime. One of the main jihadist factions is Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which controls most of Idlib province and has ties with al-Qaeda.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Nusra Front on Twitter
The Persian shadow
Iran has supported Syria, its only Arab ally, for decades. Eager to maintain its ally, Tehran has provided Damascus with strategic assistance, military training and ground troops when the conflict emerged in 2011. The Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah also supports the Assad regime, fighting alongside Iranian forces and paramilitary groups in the country.
Image: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
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A diplomatic solution?
Gabriel went on to say that at the G7 meeting of Foreign Ministers on Monday and Tuesday in Italy he would seek to convince US Foreign Secretary Rex Tillerson, together with his colleagues from the UK, France and Italy, to focus on a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
"We must now get the Russians and many others to the negotiating table," Gabriel said. "For this, the strong support of the USA is necessary," he said.
"It is important that the UN and experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) gain immediate access and can carry out their investigation without hindrance," Gabriel told the German newspaper "Bild am Sonntag."
The missile strikes were the first time the US has directly targeted al-Assad's forces in the six-year war. Syria agreed to remove its chemical weapons stockpile in 2013 when the US threatened military action after hundreds of people were killed in a sarin chemical attack on a Damascus suburb.
