Assad: Sarin Gas Attack Was a ‘Play’

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday denied that his government has ever launched chemical-weapon attacks, and said last week’s attack on civilians—which was deemed to be carried out using deadly sarin gas—was a “play.” More than 80 people died in the attack, including young children. “We gave up our [chemical-weapons] arsenal a few years ago. Even if we have them, we wouldn’t use them, and we have never used our chemical arsenal in our history,” Assad told AFP in an interview. “Our impression that the West—mainly the United States—is hand in glove with the terrorists. They fabricated the whole story.” He added that the images and videos released on social media following the attack amounted to a “play” and “propaganda.”