Baghdad denies Syria moving chemical weapons to Iraq

BAGHDAD (Xinhua) - The Iraqi government on Saturday rejected a Syrian opposition general's claim that the Syrian government moved parts of its chemical weapons to Iraq.

"Part of the Syrian opposition claimed that the Syrian regime transferred parts of its chemical weapons to Iraq in an attempt to tarnish the image of Iraq, whose people was a victim of the weapons," said Ali al-Mosawi, a media adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

"We deny such news in all details and we consider it as a cheap propaganda," al-Mosawi said in a statement, adding that "we urge these parties to work in favor of Syria and the Syrian people and do not turn out to be the horns and tools in the hands of some foreign countries which aimed to worsen the reputations of Iraq."

"We affirm that Iraq is against the possession of these weapons and other weapons of mass destruction anywhere in the world and under any pretext," al-Mosawi added.

On Thursday, Salim Idriss, general of the rebel Free Syrian Army, said he had intelligence showing the Syrian government " began to move chemical materials and chemical weapons to Lebanon and Iraq."