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Accusation levelled by Syria's representative to the UN after regime and Russia accused of bombing MSF hospital on Monday
Syria's representative at the United Nations has defended Russia and the Assad regime from accusations that they bombed a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital on Monday by saying the organisation is a front for French intelligence.
The MSF hospital in the north-western, rebel-held province of Idlib
was bombed twice with two missiles each time on Monday morning. Five patients, including a chlid, five members of hospital staff and a caretaker were killed, with two members of staff still missing presumed dead.
MSF said
there may be more bodies under the rubble as there was no complete list of patients at the time. It accused Russian bombers of deliberately targeting the hospital.
But Russia has denied it was responsible, and accused MSF of being part of an attempt to fabricate accusations to blacken Moscow's name. On Tuesday night, Bashar al-Jaafari, the Syria ambassador to the UN in New York and chief negotiator for the regime at peace talks, was also asked about the attack.
"The so-called hospital was installed without any prior consultation with the Syrian government by the so-called French network called MSF which is a branch of the French intelligence operating in Syria," he said.
The hospital in Idlib was one of five hit on Monday, said to be the worst day for such targets being struck for six months. Two schools were also hit.
The destruction of medical facilities prompted worldwide outrage.
But Russia issued an immediate denial.
“We categorically do not accept such statements, the more so as every time those making these statements are unable to prove their unfounded accusations in any way," said Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s press secretary. The Syrian ambassador to Moscow went so far as to claim that the strikes had been carried out by the United States.
Russia's defence ministry claimed the whole incident was a "fabrication", basing the claim on the fact that MSF had put out a separate statement criticising attacks on hospitals last week - which the ministry said was a reference to Monday's alleged attack released early by accident.
The attacks on schools and hospitals came a few days before a "cessation of hostilities" was supposed to be declared, having been agreed by Russia and the United States in advance.
The opposition demanded that this could not happen without relief supplies being delivered in line with previous United Nations resolutions unconditionally to areas besieged by the regime.
The UN that aid convoys would begin to seven besieged areas - four rebel-held areas besieged by the regime, and the others the three regime-held areas under siege, two by rebels and one by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
UN aid workers have complained for months that the regime has forced them into long negotiations about sending in aid, which is supposed to be mandated by the UN resolution.
"It is the duty of the government of Syria to want to reach every Syrian person wherever they are and allow the UN to bring humanitarian aid," the UN envoy on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said while on a visit to Damascus on Tuesday. "Tomorrow we test this."
Even that prompted an angry reaction from the Syrian authorities. "We don't need anyone to remind us of our duties to our people," the Syrian state news agency quoted an anonymous official as saying.
'Medecins Sans Frontieres run by French intelligence', says Assad regime - Telegraph
