France Sends Humanitarian Aid to Syria Chemical Attack Victims

(Bloomberg) -- The French foreign affairs ministry Friday said the country is sending humanitarian relief to the victims of the chemical attack in the Syrian area of Khan Sheikhoun.

"Following the chemical attack on April 4 carried out by the Syrian regime in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, Jean-Marc Ayrault, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, wanted to send emergency humanitarian assistance to the victims of this attack," the ministry said in a statement.

Almost 500 kilogrammes of emergency medicines to combat the effects of chemical weapons, as well as full protective equipment will be sent via Turkey and distributed by an NGO, Union des organisations de secours et des soins médicaux (UOSSM), the ministry said.

"France strongly condemned the attack on April 4 which constitutes another unacceptable violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and further evidence of the barbarity suffered by the Syrian people for many years," the ministry said. "It calls for a unanimous response to such practices on the part of the international community."

To contact the reporter on this story: Geraldine Amiel in Paris at gamiel@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net, David Whitehouse