There is a serious allegation that is under debate in the capitals across the world: The claim of senior Syrian diplomat Nawaf Al Fares that Damascus is on the verge of using chemical weapons to silence the growing opposition against the regime.

This is a claim that should be given the seriousness it deserves and not be swept under the carpet as a ‘defector’s claim’. Nawaf Al Fares, a veteran politician and Syria’s ex-ambassador to Iraq, did not mince words when he talked about what Damascus could possibly resort to in order to silence the growing opposition. The diplomat, now in Qatar, was privy to inside information and wasn’t just shooting his mouth off. As the violence being perpetrated by the state escalates and any prospect of peace fades, world leaders have been trying to figure out a way in which to get Russia —Assad’s strongest ally — to stop blocking UN Security Council resolutions. What the world does not need is another Iraq-like Saddam Hussein situation. The horror tales of Halabjah and Dujail are still fresh in the memories of the people who haplessly saw Kurds being maimed and buried — only to be discovered after a couple of decades. This shouldn’t happen in Syria.

Not withstanding Fares allegations, one hopes President Bashar Al Assad will not like to be counted among the likes of Saddam and desist from using poisonous gases against his own people.

The upheaval in the strife-torn country and the rising death toll is alienating Syrians from the ruling Assad clan. The tactics that the Baath Party has been employing of exterminating any opposition is bizarre and hasn’t worked to this day. This is why what was once a small uprising in the sleepy city of Homs has now blossomed into a full blow battle against the strongman that not only threatens the polity in Syria but has also pitched the region into chaos and uncertainty. At a time when the Middle East is in a state of flux with people demanding fundamental rights that many of the regimes had usurped, the use of force has only served to temporarily keep the dictators in power. Damascus should not only desist from any such adventurism of using poisonous gases but also assure the world that its flashpoints and military garrisons are open for snap inspections.

While the United Nations special envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, is due to visit Beijing and Moscow before coming back to Damascus, he has to be injunctive in his approach. All the assurances he had been given so far have failed to work. The way out is simple and unquestionable: let the UN and Arab League-backed Six-Point peace plan be implemented in letter and spirit. It’s high time Russia and China also realised the sensitivity of the issue and started looking away from the prism of realpolitik.