* Israel closely monitoring situation in Syria
* Concerned Islamist militants could get chemical cache
JERUSALEM, Dec 25 (Reuters) – Israel voiced doubt on Tuesday
about the accuracy of Syrian activists’ reports that chemical
weapons had been used against rebels fighting to topple
President Bashar al-Assad.
“We have seen reports from the opposition. It is not the
first time. The opposition has an interest in drawing in
international military intervention,” Vice Prime Minister Moshe
Yaalon said on Army Radio.
“As things stand now, we do not have any confirmation or
proof that (chemical weapons) have already been used, but we are
definitely following events with concern,” he said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gathered activist
accounts on Sunday of what they said was a poison gas attack in
the city of Homs. The reports are difficult to verify, as the
government restricts media access in Syria.
The Observatory, a British-based group with a network of
activists across Syria, said those accounts spoke of six rebel
fighters who died after inhaling smoke on the front line of
Homs’s urban battleground. It said it could not confirm that
poison gas had been used and called for an investigation.
Syria has said it would never use chemical weapons against
its citizens.
Asked about images purported to show patients being treated
for possible gas poisoning, Yaalon said: “I’m not sure that what
we’re seeing in the photos is the result of the use of chemical
weapons.
“It could be other things,” he said, without elaborating.
On Sunday, senior Israeli defence official Amos Gilad said
Syria’s chemical weapons were still secure despite the fact that
Assad had lost control of parts of the country.
As Syria’s southern neighbour, Israel has been concerned
about chemical weapons falling into the hands of Islamist
militants or Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, cautioning it could
intervene to stop such developments.
(Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
