Comment by the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia regarding testimony of Mother Superior of the St.James Monastery (Qara, Syria) Agnes Mariam As-Salib

Moscow’s attention was drawn towards information from Mother Superior of the St. James Monastery (Qara, Syria) Agnes Mariam As-Salib which she shared with correspondents from the channel “Rusiya Al-Yaum”.
It is imperative to listen to the testimonies of real witnesses who are trying to share the truth about the tragic events in this country with the international community from the site of the tragedy and not from abroad via electronic channels.
Mother Agnes is convinced that the chemical attack in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21, 2013 was a provocative act by the arrant opposition. Shocking videos which were actively doing the rounds in the world mass-media were taken beforehand in order to create a corresponding background for blaming the Syrian government. According to her words the press started to cover the tragedy at 06.05 am on August 21, while the chemical attack happened between 03.00 am and 05.00 am. How is it possible within such a short period of time to collect a dozen different pieces of footage, carry more than 300 young people and 200 children to one place, give them first-aid and interview them on camera? 90% of the “victims” on the video footage are children. Mother Agnes questions the whereabouts of their parents, where did they all arrive from and what is their fate.
Regretfully these facts are of no interest to the Western and partisan regional mass media which according to the Mother Superior are operating on request from a specific group of people and are interested only in hyping up false information on the events of August 21st while ignoring, for example, the tragedy in Latakia. That is where Islamic extremists went on a brutal killing spree during their raid on the Latakia governorate. More than 500 people became victims, including women, children and the elderly. The terrorists killed, raped and decapitated their victims. Mother Agnes has a video of a young woman being dismembered on a sawmill.
According to the nun, she intends to submit a report to an independent commission investigating human rights violations in Syria.
We deem necessary to examine this testimony along with others about what is happening in Syria. The situation is so serious that the international community should plan their actions basing on complete and trustworthy information, as opposed to unilateral and tenuous versions of what happened that are being promoted in Washington and in a number of other capitals.