France on Friday imposed a six-month asset freeze on several international companies allegedly linked to a chemical weapons programme in Syria, as ministers meeting in Paris vowed that governments that gas their own people would not go unpunished.

The asset freezes came as officials from some 30 countries met to discuss how to better identify and punish those who use nerve agents, which Western powers say have been employed not just in the Syrian war but the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in Britain in March.

"We are sending a clear message: there will never be impunity for those who gas fighters or civilians," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said after the meeting.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson added: "We need a new mechanism to identify not just the fact of the use of chemical weapons, but to identify the perpetrators."

Earlier France announced asset freezes against nine businesses including Sigmatec and the Al Mahrous Group, both based in Damascus; Technolab in Lebanon; and a trading company in Guangzhou in China, in a list published in the government's official gazette.

Two Syrian nationals will also face asset freezes as well as a person born in Lebanon in 1977 whose nationality was not given.

In a statement, Le Drian and Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said the individuals and businesses were working with the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC), which they described as Syria's main laboratory producing chemical weapons and ballistic launchers.

In January, France sanctioned 25 people and companies based in Syria, and also French, Lebanese and Chinese citizens, over suspicions of fuelling the development of chemical weapons in the war-ravaged country.

Aziz Allouche, the owner of Technolab, told AFP that his company supplied only universities, schools and professional education centres with electronic and industrial gear such as spectrum analysis equipment.

"I'm surprised by this news, I don't work with France," Allouche said. "If they want to question me, they're welcome."

Technolab and Allouche are also among several companies and individuals whose assets have also been frozen by US officials over suspected support for Syria's SSRC.

"All my business involves the civil sector. But the equipment I provide can be used for either civil or military purposes," Allouche said.

"If I supply a university and they use it for something else, how is that my fault?"

- Meeting in Paris -

After hundreds of people were killed in chemical attacks near Damascus in 2013, a landmark deal with Russia was struck to rid Syria of its chemical weapons stash, staving off US air strikes.

Despite the deal, a suspected chlorine and sarin attack in the Syrian town of Douma on April 7 this year triggered punitive missile strikes against alleged chemical weapons facilities in Syria by the United States, Britain and France.

Sites operated by the SSRC were among those targeted in the strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is due to soon release a fact-finding report into the suspected Douma attack.

The poisoning in Britain of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal -- who was finally released from hospital on Friday -- has also sparked a diplomatic stand-off between Russia and Western powers, which see the hand of Moscow behind the attack in March.

Related Links
Space War News

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Yemen coastal offensive driving mass displacement: Amnesty
Aden (AFP) May 17, 2018
A Yemen government offensive backed by ground troops and warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition has displaced tens of thousands of people along the country's western coast, Amnesty International said Thursday. The rights group warned "the worst could be yet to come" after surveying civilians who made the perilous escape from front line towns south of Hodeida port, the focus of the offensive. Saudi Arabia launched a coalition in Yemen on the side of the internationally recognised government in 201 ... read more