US, Turkey plan for Syria

12 Aug 2012, 2:13 pm   -   Source: AAP

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkey's foreign minister say their countries are planning for worst-case scenarios in Syria, including a possible chemical weapons attack on regime opponents.

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Clinton and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Saturday their two nations would set up a working group to respond to the crisis as conditions deteriorate.

They said the group will co-ordinate military, intelligence and political responses to the potential fallout in the case of a chemical attack, which would result in medical emergencies and a likely rise in refugee numbers.

"We have been closely co-ordinating over the course of this conflict but now we need to get into the real details of such operational planning. It needs to be across both of our governments," Clinton said.

She said the US State Department and Turkey's Foreign Ministry had already been working together on the issue but that the new working group would increase the involvement of the intelligence services and militaries of both countries.

Among the contingencies that the US and Turkey agree on the need to plan for is "the horrible event" that chemical weapons are used, Clinton said.

In July, Syria's foreign ministry spokesman threatened the use of chemical and biological weapons in case of a foreign attack, assuring that government would never use them against its own citizens.

It later attempted to back away from the announcement.

Syria is believed to have nerve agents as well as mustard gas, Scud missiles capable of delivering lethal chemicals and a variety of advanced conventional arms.

Davutoglu hinted at the possibility of setting up a so-called "safe zone" inside the country if the humanitarian crisis, which has already claimed thousands of lives, triggers a massive flow of refugees.

He said 55,000 Syrians have sought refuge in neighbouring Turkey and that 2000 to 3000 were arriving daily.

Recent arrivals came from the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo and surrounding villages, while others have come from Idlib and Latakia. Many more have fled to Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.

Meanwhile, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said on Saturday while visiting a refugee camp in Jordan that he was "horrified" by the violence in Syria.

"We are tremendously horrified to learn of this experience that so many people here face, the horrifying experiences that cause them to leave," their country, Baird said during a tour of the Zaatari refugee camp.

Addressing reporters with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Baird said Canada planned to provide additional funding to the World Food Programme to help the refugees.

French President Francois Hollande also said on Saturday his nation was committed to finding a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

Speaking from Varces, he noted that France had deployed a field hospital in Jordan "as close as possible to the Syrian border to help not only refugees but also combatants fighting the repression of a regime which is no longer motivated by anything but the fear of its own demise".

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