BBC Producer Says Footage of Alleged Gas Attack Victims in Syria’s Douma Staged
LONDON – Riam Dalati, the Syria producer at the BBC, said that the footage of people being treated after an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Syrian city of Duma was staged, Sputnik reported.
Dalati wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that the issue was investigated into for six months.
According to Sputnik, the journalist pointed out that no fatalities had occurred at the hospital, adding that the attack in Douma had not happened and sarin had not been used there. However, Dalati noted that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) would look into whether chlorine was used at the scene.
Everything else around the attack was fabricated, according to Dalati.
The White Helmets group published the video after the alleged attack in Douma, which is located in the Damascus neighborhood of Eastern Ghouta, in early April 2018. The video showed local residents, both adults and children, being treated in the hospital after the alleged attack.
The reports about the attack and the publication of the footage by the White Helmets were followed by missile strikes carried out by France, the United Kingdom and the United States on alleged chemical weapons production facilities in Damascus.
Western states have repeatedly accused the Syrian authorities of having carried out the Douma attack, while Damascus denied any involvement in the incident.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that the claims about the alleged use of toxic chemicals by the Syrian government were aimed at justifying external military action.
Moreover, prior to the Douma incident, the Russian Armed Forces warned about a provocation with the use of chemical weapons being prepared in the Syrian city by the militants.
Notably, back in April, the RT broadcaster reported that Dalati had already expressed his skepticism about the Douma hospital video in a Twitter post. However, the journalist subsequently deleted his tweet, citing a breach of editorial policy.
H.M