Pentagon Says US Will Try To Ensure Syrian Chemical Weapons Don't Fall Into Wrong Hands

JAKARTA - The Department of Defense (Pentagon) said the United States (US) would cooperate with its partners in Syria, to ensure the country's chemical weapons while under the Assad regime did not fall into the wrong hands.

"Regarding the issue of chemical weapons, that is our focus," Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said.

"I think you may have heard that the White House has also discussed this, but through the cooperation of our other partners, we are trying to ensure that the chemical weapon does not fall into the hands of anyone who wants to use it on civilians, or against US troops or our partners in the region. However, I have no further assessment of telling you about the constitution where the weapon is located in this country," he explained.

However, Singh declined to discuss the scale assessed by the stock of chemical weapons in Syria, saying no US troops were involved in the "burying" of the weapon. In addition, he did not answer the question of whether the US provided intelligence to other groups to find it.

"We have expertise in this matter and we do it through our partners on the ground to ensure those weapons don't fall into the wrong hands," he said.

President Bashar al-Assad's administration fell after rebel groups managed to take control of the capital Damascus on Sunday. A day later, rebel leaders and prime ministers of the Syrian government overturned agreeing to hand over power, coordinating to ensure services to the community.

A video shared by the rebels on Monday showed the leader of the main rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Abu Mohammad al-Jolani and Prime Minister of Innovation Government linked to HTS, Mohammed al-Bashir, meeting with Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali who will step down.

The rebels said the meeting aimed at "coordinating the transfer of power in a way ensuring the provision of services to our people in Syria."

Singh said since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's Administration very quickly over the weekend, the posture of power for some 900 members of the US armed forces in the country has not changed.

There was no direct communication between the US military and rebel groups at the center of the overthrow of the regime, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), although Singh said the US "definitely (has) partners and other groups that have a way to convey messages to HTS and other rebel groups."