Russia dares Trump to say what he would do about Syria

Moscow (CNN)Russia has challenged President Donald Trump to set out his strategy on Syria after he declared that an apparent chemical weapons attack had transformed his views on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Trump, who has previously argued against removing Assad from power, said Wednesday's attack on a rebel-held town in Syria's Idlib province was a "heinous" act that "crossed a lot of lines for me."

But Trump did not offer any details of how US strategy on Syria would change. Nor did he directly criticize Russia, which has stood by Assad in the face of worldwide condemnation of the attack that killed at least 86 people, including 26 children.

Trump's Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, said on Wednesday there was "no doubt" that Assad was responsible for the attack and called on Russia to "really think carefully" about its continued support for the regime.

When asked if Russia would reconsider its backing for Assad, Russia's Foreign Ministry instead challenged the US to show its cards.

"Russia's approach to Assad is clear. He is the legal president of an independent state. What is the US approach?" ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told CNN in a text message.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned against "snap judgments" on what happened in Idlib. "It's indeed a very menacing course of events, dangerous and horrible crime. However, sticking labels on everyone, prematurely, is not a correct thing to do, in our opinion," he told reporters on a regular call Thursday.

Russia is Syria's most powerful ally and has provided the military might behind Assad's grip on the country, which plunged into civil war six years ago.

Before Wednesday, Trump had long argued against trying to depose Assad while also fighting ISIS in Syria, despite several previous confirmed reports of chemical attacks carried out by the Syrian regime.

Trump has maintained that the bloodshed in Syria was the result of weak policy under the previous Obama administration. President Barack Obama in 2012 warned Syria that carrying out a chemical attack would cross a red line.

But in 2013, a chemical attack was carried out in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, in which activists say 1,400 people died. It was blamed on the Syrian regime and prompted Obama to threaten military action.

Trump said on Wednesday that Obama's failure to follow through with his red line threat "was a blank threat (that) set us back a long ways, not only in Syria but in many other parts of the world."

Laying blame

Several countries have now said they believe the Syrian regime carried out Tuesday's attack, including the United States, Britain and Turkey.

France said it would continue to push a resolution through the UN Security Council that would force the Syrian government to provide flight logs from the day of the attack.

A victim in the suspected chemical attack waits to receive treatment at an hospital in Idlib, Syria, on Wednesday.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said thee attack would need to be investigated. "If it is the case that it was the Assad regime, it shows the barbarism of the regime," she said, describing the attack as "despicable."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Assad a "murderer" over the incident.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem continued to deny the allegations Thursday, repeating the government's claims it had never used chemical weapons and never would. He said that terrorist groups like the Al Nusra Front and ISIS had smuggled chemical weapons into the country from Iraq and Turkey.

He complained that "the accusation fingers are directed at the Syrian regime," even though few concrete details on the incident had emerged.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was "premature to accuse the Syrian government of using chemical weapons in Idlib," insisting on a full investigation.

Russia on Wednesday claimed that the deaths were cause by a Syrian regime airstrike on a chemical munitions depot held by a "terrorist" group.

Autopsies on three victims conducted in Turkey indicated exposure to chemical substances, Turkey's Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said Thursday. It's not yet confirmed what chemical agent was involved in the attack, but early indicators point to the release of a nerve agent like Sarin.

Victims: We saw warplanes

Hospitalized victims told CNN, that they saw planes drop chemical-laden bombs.

No terrorist or rebel group in Syria is believed to have the capacity to carry out aerial strikes.

source:http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/06/middleeast/syria-idlib-chemical-attack/index.html