Assad ‘must bear responsibility’ for chemical attack: Freeland

CAPTION: Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says it is “clear to Canada” that the Assad regime is responsible for a suspected chemical-weapons attack in Syria that left more than 40 people dead and 500 injured. (April 14, 2018) SOUNDBITE: Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Affairs Minister PLACELINE: Lima, Peru CREDIT: The Canadian Press STORYLINE: The Syrian government has denied responsibility for the attack while Russia has suggested Israel or Britain was to blame, the latter to justify increased western intervention into the country. But Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas on Friday that Canada laid the blame squarely with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as well as his Russian and Iranian supporters. "When it comes to this use of chemical weapons, it is clear to Canada that chemical weapons were used and that they were used by the Assad regime," Freeland said.