Syrian Kurdish Leader Doubts Assad Would Be 'So Stupid' As To Carry Out Gas Attack [View all]

[Purveyor]

BERLIN | Tue Aug 27, 2013 10:59am EDT

(Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would not be "so stupid" as to use chemical weapons close to Damascus, the leader of the country's largest Kurdish group said.

Saleh Muslim, head of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said he doubted the Syrian president would resort to using such weapons when he felt he had the upper hand in the country's civil war.

He suggested last Wednesday's attack, which the opposition says was carried out by government forces and killed hundreds of people, was aimed at framing Assad and provoking an international reaction. Assad has denied his forces used chemical weapons.

"The regime in Syria ... has chemical weapons, but they wouldn't use them around Damascus, 5 km from the (U.N.) committee which is investigating chemical weapons. Of course they are not so stupid as to do so," Muslim told Reuters.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/27/us-syria-crisis-kurds-idUSBRE97Q0LP20130827