The Syrian government rules out the allegation of using chemical weapons by the army in Rif Dimashq governorate, Omran al-Zoabi told al-Alam on Wednesday.

“Certain Arab and non-Arab news channels have prepared preplanned and artificial videos and photos to accuse the Syrian armed forces of using chemical weapons against residents of regions in Rif Dimashq, but Damascus denies all the allegations and sees them as baseless and incorrect,” al-Zoabi noted.

The Syrian army has not committed any wrongdoing against civilians, he said, adding, the army has only targeted foreign-backed terrorists in Syria.

Raising the allegations just in the first day of UN fact-finding committee’s mission in Syria shows the opponents are disappointed, the minister said.

Syrian armed forces and armed terrorists clashed in al-Ghouta in Rif Dimashq, therefore, it is impossible to use chemical weapons against the militants, he added.

“Even if Syria possessed the chemical weapons, it would not use the weapons because of moral reasons,” al-Zoabi explained.

Syrian opposition groups claimed at least 100 people were killed during a fierce government offensive against rebel-held areas, and some activists claimed regime troops used "poisonous gas." The Syrian government denied its troops used chemical weapons.

The arrival of the UN experts comes just days after Syria’s Foreign Ministry said it will fully cooperate with the UN team of chemical weapons inspectors.

Damascus has filed several reports to the UN providing evidence that foreign-backed militants used chemical weapons on civilians and Syrian soldiers.

Syria has been gripped by a deadly unrest since March 2011.

The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been killed and a total of 7.8 million others displaced since the outbreak of the violence.

According to reports, Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

NTJ/HH