A report in the Independent newspaper in London shows that the British government authorized the export of two chemicals that can create Sarin gas to be sold and shipped to Syria last year.
Business Secretary Vince Cable is now facing an inquiry by British members of parliament about the sale and approval. Continue reading
The U.K. Is preparing a resolution to submit to the U.N. Security Council opening the door to possible military intervention against the al-Assad government for use of chemical weapons on civilians.
Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain’s National Security Council had unanimously supported action against Syria. The resolution will be presented today at a meeting of the five permanent members of the Security Council. Continue reading
The Arab League has officially blamed the Syrian government for the chemical weapons attack that killed over 300 civilians one week ago.
The group held an emergency meeting on Tuesday and called for the United Nations Security Council to “overcome their differences” and take action against those who committed “this heinous crime”. The ministerial level of the League is meeting next week to discuss next steps against Syria. Continue reading
The United Nations is sending strongly worded complaints to the Syrian government after the body’s chemical weapon inspection team was fired upon by snipers as they tried to reach the site of last Wednesday’s chemical weapons attack.
The team was forced to retreat when one of their cars was struck by sniper fire in the tires and windshield. They were entering an area considered a “buffer zone” between rebels and government troops at the time of the attack according to the BBC. Continue reading
The Syrian government, almost a week after a chemical weapons attack killed more than 300 people, is finally allowing United Nations inspectors to visit the site.
The team is scheduled to arrive some time Monday although U.K. Foreign Secretary William Teague says evidence could have been tampered with, degraded or even destroyed in the days since the Wednesday attack. Continue reading
Syrian opposition leaders say the government launched a chemical weapons attack overnight, killing entirely families while they slept. An official death toll has not been released but most activist groups place the number of dead in the hundreds.
The toxic attack was launched in the suburbs of the Ghouta region as part of an assault on rebel forces according to the BBC. Continue reading
The Syrian government has agreed to allow UN weapons inspectors to visit three sites where chemical weapons were reportedly used against rebel forces.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the inspectors would be leaving “as soon as possible” and are expected to visit the site outside Aleppo where 27 people were reportedly killed by chemical weapons earlier this year. Continue reading
White House spokesman have finally joined with other world governments in confirming Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government has used chemical weapons on their own citizens in an attempt to stop the civil war.
President Obama had called the use of chemical weapons a “red line” that would force American involvement in the ongoing war. Continue reading
French President Francois Hollande says the increasing evidence of the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government “obliges the international community to act…within the framework of international law”. Continue reading
French foreign minister Laurent Fabius has said that laboratory tests have confirmed use of the nerve agent Sarin in the Syrian Civil War.
The White House again said that more proof was needed because the French scientists did not indicate where the gas was used or who used it. The U.N. stated earlier that “reasonable grounds” have been established for claiming the Syrian government has used chemical weapons. Continue reading