US Secretary of Defense James Mattis in Israel
- TEL AVIV - Syria has kept its chemical arsenal in violation of agreements made in 2013 that provided for the country to dismantle its arsenal, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman in Tel Aviv.
''There can be no doubt in the international community's mind that Syria has retained chemical weapons in violation of its agreement and its statement that it had removed them all,'' said Mattis. He added that he would not elaborate on the amounts Syria has in order to avoid revealing intelligence sources.
