Growing evidence' of chemical weapons use in Syria - UK
The footage of an alleged chemical weapon attack was posted on YouTube
There
is "limited but growing" evidence that Syrian government troops have
used chemical weapons, UK Prime Minister David Cameron says.
"It is extremely serious, this is a war crime," Mr Cameron told the BBC.
On Thursday, the White House said that US intelligence
agencies believed "with varying degrees of confidence" that Syria had
used the nerve agent sarin on a "small scale".
Syrian officials have denounced the allegations as "lies".
Opposition activists and state media meanwhile report fierce
fighting between government troops and rebels in a number of suburbs of
the capital, Damascus.
'Tested positive'
Mr Cameron said he agreed with the White House's warning that
chemical weapons use would be a "red line" for possible intervention.
However, the US has said that this latest intelligence does not represent proof of chemical weapons use.
David Cameron: "It is extremely serious, this is a war crime"
The White House's assessment was made in letters to lawmakers
on Thursday signed by Miguel Rodriguez, White House director of the
office of legislative affairs.
"Our intelligence community does assess, with varying degrees
of confidence, that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a
small scale in Syria, specifically, the chemical agent sarin," one of
the letters said.
No details were given of where or when sarin had been used.
The letter added: "Given the stakes involved, and what we
have learned from our own recent experiences, intelligence assessments
alone are not sufficient - only credible and corroborated facts that
provide us with some degree of certainty will guide our
decision-making."
The phrase "varying degrees of confidence" is normally used to reflect differences in opinion within the intelligence community.
Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, US Defence
Secretary Chuck Hagel said the use of sarin "violates every convention
of warfare".
Continue reading the main story
Already US Republicans are saying the red lines have been
crossed, that the Assad regime will feel emboldened if there is not
action, that the investigation must not be outsourced to the United
Nations.
It is clear President Obama doesn't want to go to war in Syria. He regards it as too complex, too difficult, too uncertain.
American military action there would have a huge impact on the perception of America in the region - confirming every image he wants to change.
Yet the US is, perhaps, moving slowly and cautiously toward taking action. There is no sense of a time scale and no real certainty about what might be done.
This is very Obama: the caution, the desire to bring allies along, the reluctance to rush to judgment.
It is clear President Obama doesn't want to go to war in Syria. He regards it as too complex, too difficult, too uncertain.
American military action there would have a huge impact on the perception of America in the region - confirming every image he wants to change.
Yet the US is, perhaps, moving slowly and cautiously toward taking action. There is no sense of a time scale and no real certainty about what might be done.
This is very Obama: the caution, the desire to bring allies along, the reluctance to rush to judgment.
The UK Foreign Office echoed the
US claims, saying it had "limited but persuasive information from
various sources" of chemical weapons use in Syria.
It is understood that Britain obtained samples from inside
Syria that have been tested by the Defence Science and Technology
Laboratory at Porton Down, Wiltshire.
"Material from inside Syria tested positive for sarin," a Foreign Office spokesman said.
On Friday, Syrian official Sharif Shehadeh told the
Associated Press the US allegations were "lies", saying that similar US
accusations about Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction had
proved untrue.
Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad also dismissed the accusations in an earlier interview with Reuters,
Syria is believed to possess large quantities of chemical
weapons and there has been heightened concern among the international
community in recent months about the safety of the stockpiles.
Although there have been numerous accusations, there has so
far not been any confirmation that chemical weapons have been used
during Syria's two-year-old conflict.
Anthony Loyd, a journalist for the Times newspaper, told the
BBC about the aftermath of one suspected chemical weapons attack earlier
this month in the northern city of Aleppo.
Journalist Anthony Loyd visited the victims in hospital
Video shown to him by doctors treating the affected patients "showed pretty clearly that they had been gassed", Mr Loyd says.
None of the patients appeared to have been hit by shrapnel
but were frothing at the mouth, had dilated pupils and several other
symptoms suggesting the use of chemical weapons, he added.
BBC world affairs correspondent, Nick Childs, says the use of
chemical weapons has long been perceived as especially horrific because
they are seen as particularly inhumane and indiscriminate, not least in
the wake of public revulsion over their deployment during World War I,
which led to efforts to outlaw them.
US President Barack Obama warned in December that Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad would face "consequences" if he used such
weapons.
The letters released on Thursday were sent to powerful US senators John McCain and Carl Levin.
In response, Senator McCain told reporters a "red line has
been crossed" and recommended arming the opposition, a step the White
House has been reluctant to take.
High-profile Democratic lawmakers also called for action to
help secure Syria's stockpile of chemical arms and increase aid to the
opposition, including the possible imposition of a no-fly zone.
Continue reading the main story
What is Sarin?
- One of a group of nerve gas agents invented by German scientists as part of Hitler's preparations for World War II
- Huge secret stockpiles built up by superpowers during Cold War
- 20 times more deadly than cyanide: A drop the size of a pin-head can kill a person
- Called "the poor man's atomic bomb" due to large number of people that can be killed by a small amount
- Kills by crippling the nervous system through blocking the action of an enzyme that removes acetylcholine - a chemical that transmits signals down the nervous system
- Can only be manufactured in a laboratory, but does not require very sophisticated equipment
- Very dangerous to manufacture. Contains four main ingredients, including phosphorus trichloride
On Friday Israeli Deputy Foreign
Minister Zev Elkin hinted that the US should consider military action to
"take control" of Syria's chemical weapons.
"It is clear that if the United States wants to and the
international community wants to, they could act - inter alia,
militarily... And then all the fears... will not be relevant," Mr Elkin
told Israeli radio.
Mr Cameron said he was "keen for us to do more" in helping opposition forces in Syria.
"We want our allies and partners to do more with us to shape
that opposition to make sure we're supporting people with good motives,"
he said.
Meanwhile, opposition activists reported fierce fighting in
the Barzeh district of northern Damascus on Friday, saying that the army
and pro-government militiamen had pushed into the area backed by tank
fire.
The state-run Sana news agency said troops had killed a
number of rebels in fighting in the Jobar and Zamalka districts of the
capital.
According to the UN, at least 70,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict.
Syria's government and rebels have accused each other of
using chemical weapons. A UN team is trying to enter Syria to
investigate.
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