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Assad Still Has "Hundreds of Tons" of Chemicals Stockpiled
(Telegraph-UK) Josie Ensor - President Assad continues to retain hundreds of tons of chemicals after deceiving UN inspectors sent in to dismantle them, according to Syria's former chemical weapons research chief and other experts. Brig.-Gen. Zaher al-Sakat, who served as head of chemical warfare in the army's 5th Division until he defected in 2013, told the Telegraph that the regime failed to declare large amounts of sarin and its precursor chemicals. "They [the regime] admitted only to 1,300 tons, but we knew in reality they had nearly double that," said Sakat. He believes the undisclosed stockpile includes several hundred tons of sarin and its precursor chemicals, as well as aerial bombs that could be filled with chemical agents and chemical warheads for Scud missiles. Sakat said that in the months before the international inspectors arrived, tons of chemicals were transported to the mountains outside Homs and to the coastal city of Jableh, near Tartus. He understands that the regime has not been manufacturing more nerve agents since 2014. "They don't need any more, they have all they need already."