Despite the fact that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has yet to produce its fact-finding report into last month's alleged chemical attack in Douma, France has implicated and moved on a Chinese firm said to be connected with Syria's chemical weapon's program.
France has frozen the assets of multiple international and Middle East companies, including a China based trading company over links to the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre - also widely known by its French initials CERS - which is the Syrian government's chief defense technology and missile research arm widely blamed for producing Syria's chemical weapons.
French finance minister Le Maire and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in public statements linked the businesses to CERS, which they alleged is "The main Syrian laboratory in charge of developing and producing unconventional chemical weapons and ballistic launchers."
Last month's US-led airstrikes on Damascus primarily targeted sites connected with CERS such as the Barzeh research center, which was destroyed by well over a dozen tomahawk missile strikes; however, the OPCW during prior routine inspections connected with the late 2013 US-Russia brokered deal to decommission Syria's sarin stockpiles reported that it found "No evidence" of chemical weapons at the site.
Over the past years of war in Syria, France has consistently accused President Bashar al-Assad of both using chemical weapons on civilians and misleading weapons inspectors as to the current status of his program, in spite of both former Secretary of State John Kerry and OPCW inspectors declaring the 2013-2014 decommissioning process a monumental success.
In April 2017 France produced an intelligence paper which attempted to cast doubt over Syria's US-Russian sponsored decommissioning of its chemical program: "France assesses that major doubts remain as to the accuracy, exhaustiveness and sincerity of the decommissioning of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal," the paper stated.
Last January France announced that it sanctioned 25 individuals and companies over suspected links to Syria's program, which also included Chinese citizens.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-18/chinese-firms-assets-frozen-france-over-alleged-links-syrias-chemical-weapons
France has frozen the assets of multiple international and Middle East companies, including a China based trading company over links to the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre - also widely known by its French initials CERS - which is the Syrian government's chief defense technology and missile research arm widely blamed for producing Syria's chemical weapons.
French finance minister Le Maire and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in public statements linked the businesses to CERS, which they alleged is "The main Syrian laboratory in charge of developing and producing unconventional chemical weapons and ballistic launchers."
Last month's US-led airstrikes on Damascus primarily targeted sites connected with CERS such as the Barzeh research center, which was destroyed by well over a dozen tomahawk missile strikes; however, the OPCW during prior routine inspections connected with the late 2013 US-Russia brokered deal to decommission Syria's sarin stockpiles reported that it found "No evidence" of chemical weapons at the site.
Over the past years of war in Syria, France has consistently accused President Bashar al-Assad of both using chemical weapons on civilians and misleading weapons inspectors as to the current status of his program, in spite of both former Secretary of State John Kerry and OPCW inspectors declaring the 2013-2014 decommissioning process a monumental success.
In April 2017 France produced an intelligence paper which attempted to cast doubt over Syria's US-Russian sponsored decommissioning of its chemical program: "France assesses that major doubts remain as to the accuracy, exhaustiveness and sincerity of the decommissioning of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal," the paper stated.
Last January France announced that it sanctioned 25 individuals and companies over suspected links to Syria's program, which also included Chinese citizens.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-18/chinese-firms-assets-frozen-france-over-alleged-links-syrias-chemical-weapons
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