MOSCOW, April 07. /ITAR-TASS/. Attempts have been made to prevent Syria from withdrawing all chemical weapons from the northern Syrian port of Latakia, chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society Sergei Stepashin said on Monday.

“(President) Bashar al-Assad expressed fears at a meeting that Latakia was being attacked,” Stepashin said in summing up the results of his visit to Damascus and talks with the Syrian leader.

“Attempts are being made to prevent full withdrawal of chemical weapons so that the United States has a pretext for reproaching Syria on that,” he said.