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Snipers in Syria Fire on UN Chemical Inspectors -UN

Snipers in Syria Fire on UN Chemical Inspectors -UN
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Δευ, 26 Αυγούστου 2013 - 17:21
United Nations inspectors examining the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack were fired on by unknown snipers Monday afternoon, forcing the team to retreat and violating a ceasefire agreement by rebels and the Syrian government facilitating the team's work.
United Nations inspectors examining the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack were fired on by unknown snipers Monday afternoon, forcing the team to retreat and violating a ceasefire agreement by rebels and the Syrian government facilitating the team's work.

It was unclear if the U.N. team was able to gather the needed samples to determine whether a chemical weapons attack was indeed conducted in the eastern outskirts of Damascus by government forces. But rebels in the area said the investigators spent 30 minutes on the ground before their vehicle was targeted by what they said were pro-government irregular militant groups, a claim not immediately verifiable.

"The first vehicle of the Chemical Weapons Investigation Team was deliberately shot at multiple times by unidentified snipers in the buffer zone area," the U.N. said in a statement.

The statement added that the vehicle was no longer "serviceable" forcing the U.N. inspectors to retreat to a "government checkpoint. The team will return to the area after replacing the vehicle."

What U.N. investigators find will weigh on any decisions by Western and Arab governments to strike at Syrian regime targets in response to the chemical weapons claims.

U.S. President Barack Obama has frequently said that any use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime would be a redline, but has in the past backed down from that posturing in previous incidents where the weapons were thought to be used.

But the latest suspected attack, carried out Wednesday, seems to be hardening Mr. Obama's resolve. Military leaders from the U.S. , U.K. , France , Saudi Arabia and Turkey , among others, kicked off a meeting in Jordan on Sunday evening to discuss the Syria conflict and weigh military action.

The U.N. team left the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus shortly after 11 a.m. local time Monday, in a convoy of about six white sports utility vehicles emblazoned with the U.N. logo. As the vehicles departed, U.N. disarmament chief Angela Kane went outside to wave to goodbye to the convoy.

But there was little media access to the team, with reporters locked up in the hotel lobby for roughly 10 minutes until after the U.N. convoy had departed, to make sure they weren't followed.

Although Syrian President Bashar al-Assad tried to appease the international community by allowing the U.N. team access to the site on Sunday, Western and Arab governments were hardening their stance against Damascus .

Germany said Monday it was "very likely" that the suspicions that the Syria regime used chemical weapons were true.

"The alleged widespread use of gas has broken a taboo," government spokesman Steffen Seibert said. "It requires consequences and a very clear response is needed."

Mr. Seibert criticized Mr. Assad for letting five days go by before agreeing to give UN inspectors access to the scene.

"We have to assume that important evidence has been destroyed," Mr. Seibert said.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Berlin would view the use of such armaments as a crime against civilization, and " Germany would be amongst those who consider consequences to be correct."

Russia's Foreign Ministry said Monday that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had called his U.S. counterpart on Sunday to express "deep concern" about the possible readiness of U.S. forces to "intervene."

"The Russian side calls for [Washington to] refrain from the threat of force on Damascus, to not fall for provocations and to try to help create normal conditions to give the U.N. chemical experts' mission, which is already in the country, the possibility of conducting a thorough, objective and impartial investigation," the ministry statement said.

The U.K. now says it is "clear" that the Assad regime was behind last week's attack, because of eyewitness accounts and the fact the area was under bombardment by the regime at the time, among other factors.

"We, the United States , many other countries including France are very clear that we can't allow the idea in the 21st century that chemical weapons can be used with impunity," said British Foreign Secretary William Hague, speaking in an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. on Monday.

On the possibility of some military strike this week, Mr. Hague said he wouldn't rule anything out but declined to elaborate or discuss what military options are being discussed.

Mr. Hague said he believed it would be possible for the international community to launch a response even without unity on the UN Security Council. "It is possible to take action based on great humanitarian need and humanitarian distress," said Mr. Hague.

But, he said, "anything we propose to do on this, the strong response that we've talked about, whatever form that takes, will be subject to legal advice, must be in accordance with international law."

Mr. Assad remained defiant in an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestiya, saying that any use of chemical weapons would defy logic and would be "an insult to common sense" as the area is near pro-regime neighborhoods.

The Syrian president went on to warn the U.S. that since Vietnam , it has failed at every military engagement it has fought and Syria would be no different.

"Have they not learned that they have gained nothing from these wars but the destruction of the countries they fought, which has had a destabilizing effect on the Middle East and other parts of the world?" Mr. Assad was quoted as saying in the newspaper.

Mr. Assad said that the government is fighting terrorist groups in Syria whose threat would spread beyond the country's borders.

"Politically speaking, when terrorism strikes Syria , a key country in the region, it would have a direct impact on stability in the Middle East ," Mr. Assad said.

In recent days, the Pentagon has moved warships into the Mediterranean and the U.S. has updated military options that could see cruise-missile strikes on Syrian government targets, U.S. officials have said.

But although Mr. Obama has yet to decide on how to proceed, the U.S. rebuffed the Syrian regime's green light for a U.N. investigation, saying any visit to the site of the alleged chemical weapons attack would be too late. The suspected chemical weapons attack occurred Wednesday and the shelling from a continuing military campaign to weed out rebels there would have contaminated any evidence by now, the U.S. said.

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