The Trump administration accused the Syrian regime Monday of having executed thousands of prisoners and cremating the bodies in a large crematorium outside the capital. It also stepped up criticism of Iran and Russia for supporting President Bashar Assad.
US President Donald Trump is weighing his options in Syria, where the US attacked a government air base last month in response to a chemical weapons attack, allegedly by the regime, on civilians.
The State Department said it believed that about 50 detainees a day are being hanged in the Saydnaya military prison, about 45 minutes north of Damascus. Many of the bodies, it said, are then cremated.
“We believe that the crematorium was built in an effort to cover up the extent of mass murders taking place,” said Stuart Jones, the top US diplomat for the Middle East, who also said that the regime has sunken “to a new level of depravity.”
“What has been presented by the US State Department is only a small amount of the crimes the Syrian regime has committed and is still doing against the innocent Syrian people. What has been presented is yet another proof of Bashar Assad’s brutality and his barbaric treatment of the detainees.,” Yahya Al-Aridi, a political adviser to the Syrian High Negotiations Committee (HNC), told Arab News on Monday.
The State Department released commercial satellite photographs showing what it described as a building in the prison complex that was modified to support the crematorium.
In presenting the photographs, Jones called on Russia and Iran to press Assad’s regime to reach a credible cease-fire with Syrian opposition groups and begin negotiations on a political settlement. “We are appalled by the atrocities that have been carried out by the Syrian regime, seemingly with unconditional support from Russia and Iran,” Jones said.
“The HNC is documenting all the regime’s atrocities against the Syrian people and we include this important topic in our discussions at the Astana and Geneva talks. We will continue our efforts until we secure a fair and just end of the detainees file with the relevant international powers,” Al-Aridi added.
Meanwhile, Riad Hijab, former prime minister of Syria and general coordinator of the HNC, who is participating in the 17th Doha Forum, said on Sunday: “The actual negotiations with the regime have not started yet, although international mediation has been in place for several years.”
He added: “We are continuing our efforts to meet the aspirations of the Syrian people to achieve security and stability.” He called for the establishment of a regional security system that achieves a “strategic partnership” in confronting cross-border militias and combating extremist groups.”

Source: Arab News