Merkel Denies German Chemicals Exported to Syria Were Used in Weapons

Delivered between 2002 and 2006

Chancellor Angela Merkel has denied that 137 tonnes of German chemicals exported to Syria were used in weapons.

Delivered between 2002 and 2006, they are regarded as "dual use" and can be used to make sarin, used in the deadly chemical attack in Syria last month.

"To my knowledge they were used solely for civil purposes," Mrs Merkel told ARD, Germany's public TV broadcaster.

But officials were still checking what happened to chemicals exported in the following five years, she said.