US President Barack Obama has warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against using chemical weapons, RIA Novosti reports.
Spokesman of the Syrian Foreign Ministry Jihad Maqdisi said at a conference in Damascus that chemical weapons would be mobilized, should foreign intervention start. Both the Syrian authorities and White House spokesman Jay Carney said that chemical weapons were under control. Carney warned Assad about the responsibility for using them.
The conflict in Syria has been ongoing since March 2011, despite the peace plan of UN special envoy Kofi Annan implemented in mid-April. The UN says that over 16,000 people have died. Western and Arab states want Assad to resign to end violence. Russia and China believe that foreign intervention in Syria would cause escalation of conflict. Syrian authorities say that law enforcers face well-armed opposition supported by foreign states.
