Turkey set for Nato missile shield to guard against Syria nerve gas

 
Bo Wilson4 December 2012

Nato was today expected to approve Turkey’s request for a Patriot missile defence shield to protect it against chemical weapons attack from Syria.

It will involve the deployment of hundreds of Nato troops, probably from Germany and Netherlands, along the border. Nato foreign ministers meeting in Brussels were set to give the

go-ahead. Several batteries of the latest PAC-3 version of the US-built Patriot air defence systems are planned.

The move comes after Israeli intelligence claimed Syria was moving chemical weapons caches — including mustard gas and sarin nerve gas — to various sites in the country, adding it was a “very serious development”.

President Obama yesterday warned Syrian president Bashar Assad that he would face “consequences” if he uses chemical weapons against his people, adding: “The world is watching. The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. If you make the tragic mistake of using these

weapons there will be consequences and you will be held accountable.” A Syrian official insisted it would “never, under any circumstances” use such weapons, “if such weapons exist”.

A Nato team has already visited Turkey in preparation for the deployment of Patriot batteries.

Ankara has been highly supportive of the Syrian opposition to President Bashar. The uprising against his regime began in March last year and more than 30,000 people are estimated to have died.

Yesterday it emerged that Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad al-Makdissi, who was the most public face of Assad’s government, has fled the country.

Assad’s opponents will see the loss of such a high-profile figure as further evidence of a system crumbling from within.

Rebel forces have made advances in recent weeks, seizing military bases including some close to the capital Damascus.

The United Nations said it was withdrawing “all non-essential international staff” from Syria because of deteriorating security, and was restricting remaining staff to Damascus.

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