Syria plans to use chemical arms: Israel intel chief

Assad is making advance preparations to use chemical weapons. He did not give the order yet, but is preparing for it

JERUSALEM, March 14, 2013 (AFP) - Israel's military intelligence chief on Thursday said the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has contingency plans to use chemical weapons as it battles insurgents.

Speaking at Israel's annual Herzliya Conference on security and policy, Major General Avi Kohavi said Assad was still in control of his stockpile of chemical weapons, which the Jewish state fears could fall into the hands of militants.

“Assad is making advance preparations to use chemical weapons. He did not give the order yet, but is preparing for it,” he told delegates, while stressing that the Syrian leader was still in control of Damascus's chemical stockpiles, military hardware and the air force.

Addressing the same confer- ence earlier this week, army chief Benny Gantz warned that “terrorist” groups fighting alongside insurgents seeking to bring down the Assad regime were becoming stronger.

“The situation in Syria has become exceptionally dangerous. The terrorist organisations are becoming stronger on the ground. Now they are fighting against Assad but in the future they could turn against us,” Gantz said.

Several radical Islamist groups have joined the twoyear uprising against Assad, with Al-Nusra Front being the most prominent.