Russia: Syrian Rebels Used Sarin in Aleppo - Moscow Report to U.N. Details Investigation of Chemical Weapons

F. Michael Maloof * WND

WASHINGTON – A 100-page report on an investigation turned over to the United Nations by Russia concludes that the Syrian rebels – not the Syrian government – used the nerve agent sarin in an attack in the Syrian city of Aleppo last March.

While contents of the report have not been released, sources tell WND that the documentation indicates that deadly sarin poison gas was manufactured in a Sunni-controlled region of Iraq and then transported to Turkey for use by the Syrian opposition, whose ranks have swelled with members of al-Qaida-affiliated groups.

President Obama, at a recent Stockholm, Sweden, news conference, was dismissive of the alleged chemical weapons capability of the Syrian opposition. The United Nations, however, claims it now has the documentation to substantiate the claim but still hasn’t begun investigating its findings.

Obama and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry claim the U.S. has intercepts, or signals intelligence called Sigint, which establish that the Syrians ordered the chemical weapons attack on opposition forces Aug. 21.

But sources say that the intelligence lacks any smoking-gun evidence pointing to a direct order from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In addition, sources tell WND that the intelligence originated with the Israelis, who have a vested interest in seeing Assad removed and his known chemical weapons storage facilities destroyed.

The question remains whether the U.S. has independent, verifiable intelligence of what the Israelis apparently provided to the U.S. intelligence community.

Memories remain fresh of Sigint used by then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in February 2003 to make the case against Iraq.

Read more at  WND:

http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/russians-rebels-used-sarin-in-aleppo/#XMyYm83tbMGAm1gs.99