DAMASCUS: Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi said on Saturday that the country’s army is ready for foreign military strikes and has its “finger on the trigger.”
Earlier, a security official of Syrian government also told media on the condition of anonymity that the country is expecting a military attack and is “ready to retaliate at any moment.”
“We are expecting an attack at any moment. We are ready to retaliate at any moment,” the security official in Damascus said.
The statements comes as the UN chemical inspection team finished its work in the Syria and headed to the Hague with samples taken at the sites of alleged chemical attacks by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime near Damascus on August 21 which US intelligence agencies claim killed a total of 1,429 Syrian civilians, including 426 children.
According to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, it may be two weeks before for final results of their analysis are ready.
The US, which has been mulling a military strike on Syria, said they would not attack while the UN team was still in the country. However, French President Francois Hollande has declared that a military strike in the Arab country could come by Wednesday (September 4).