Syria's Assad calls chlorine allegations 'malicious propaganda'
President Bashar Assad of Syria dismissed as "malicious propaganda" allegations that his troops used chlorine gas in the fight against insurgent rebels, according to an interview broadcast on Friday on CBS "This Morning."
Asked about allegations Syrian government forces have used chlorine gas and barrel bombs, Assad said: "Let me fully answer this. It's very important. This is part of the malicious propaganda against Syria. First of all the chlorine gas is not military gas. You can buy it anywhee." In the interview excerpt, Assad did not explicitly deny that his forces used the gas, but emphasized that chlorine was not fit for military use. "It's not very effective. It's not used as military gas. That's very self-evident. Traditional arms is more important than chlorine," he told CBS. "And if it was very effective, the terrorists would have used it on a larger scale."
