France has a "clue" on the use of chemical weapons in the Idleb area of northwestern Syria, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday. "We have an index of the use of chemical weapons in the Idleb area but for now no verification," he said, without further details, before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the 'National Assembly.
"We are cautious"
The United States on May 22 reported "indications" that Bashar al-Assad's regime may have carried out a chlorine "attack" on May 19 in northwestern Syria, threatening retaliation. . US President Donald Trump has made the use of chemical weapons a red line and has already twice issued strikes against targets of the Damascus regime: in April 2017 in retaliation for a deadly attack on sarin gas in Khan Cheikhoun, and a year later, with France and the United Kingdom, in response to a chemical attack on civilians in Duma.
"We are cautious because we consider that the use of the chemical weapon must be proven and must be lethal so that we can then react," said Jean-Yves Le Drian, recalling that President Emmanuel Macron had also made his job a red line. The Syrian authorities denied each time any responsibility.