Walid Muallem during the interview, Via RT TV
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem mocked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his recent claims that Damascus was behind an alleged chemical attack in northern Lattakia.
“Who is Pompeo?” the Syrian minister told reporters who asked him to comment on the accusations during his presence in the U.N. Secretariat Building on September 26. A reporter replayed that Pompeo is the U.S. Secretary of State, only to be surprised by al-Muallem’s response: “Good that you remember, I don’t know him.”
Pompeo had accused the Damascus government of being responsible for a chlorine attack, that took place in northern Lattakia on May 19. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), four terrorists of al-Qaeda-affiliated Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) were injured in the alleged attack.
Speaking to the Russian news agency, TASS, Muallem linked the new accusations to the recent progress in the Syrian peace process.
“When we make political progress for the Syrian people, the Americans always surprise us with such statements,” Muallem said, calling the accusations “fake.”
The accusations came a few days after the formation of the Syrian constitutional committee, which is supported by the UN.
The timing of these accusations raises serious questions about the U.S. motives. The accusations also suggest that Washington may have been cooperated with the terrorists to reach its conclusion.
