Germany Should Send Observers to Douma Before Judging Alleged Attack - AfD

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Before Berlin judges the circumstances of the alleged chemical attack in Syria's Douma, German observers must first visit the area to conduct their own investigation into the claims, Markus Frohnmaier, a member of the German Bundestag for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, told Sputnik on Tuesday.

“You know the problem is that German foreign policy starts to judge all the time without proof. Maybe it’s a kind of trend at the moment… So in my opinion before we start to, try to judge what happened there, we need to have our own look to see what happened in the region,” Frohnmaier said.

Frohnmaier pointed out that statements accusing Damascus of the Douma incident came to a vast extent from sources that could not be fully trusted.

“We need [German observers] there who can tell us exactly what happened because it’s such important questions and topics that you cannot trust in, for example, opposition Syrian NGOs, Turkish NGOs and so on,” Frohnmaier said.

The lawmaker added that the trend of Germany making unsubstantiated judgments could also be seen in the Skripal case — Berlin supports London in blaming Moscow for poisoning former Russian spy Sergei Skripal even though the investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

The German Foreign Ministry condemned earlier in the day the alleged chemical attack, stating that Damascus had deliberately attacked people who were seeking protection and refuge in cellars and bunkers, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier in the day that evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Syria is “clear and explicit.”

Last week, several Syrian opposition online media outlets reported, citing militants that the Syrian Army had used chlorine in the town of Douma and killed up to 70 people.

READ MORE: US Refuses to Face Reality in Alleged Syria Chemical Attack — Kremlin

Following the reports, a number of states, including the US, accused Damascus of staging the attack.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry responded to the Douma attack allegations by saying that they were unconvincing and that the Syrian leadership had already warned that terrorist groups were planning to use chemical weapons in the Damascus suburb.