WarSclerotic

UN report: ‘Clear’ evidence sarin used in attack | The Times of Israel.

Ban Ki-moon to present findings, which diplomats say could place blame on Assad regime for devastating August 21 strike

UN inspectors being escorted by Syrian rebels in Damascus in August, 2013. (photo credit: AP/United media office of Arbeen)

UN inspectors said Monday there is “clear and convincing evidence” that chemical weapons were used on a relatively large scale in an attack last month in Syria that killed hundreds of people.

The inspectors said “the environmental, chemical and medical samples we have collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used… in the Ghouta area of Damascus” on August 21. The report mentioned the areas of Ein Tarma, Moadamiyeh and Zamalka.

“The conclusion is that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic… against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale,” the inspectors said on the first page of their report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

Ban was scheduled to present the report to the UN Security Council later Monday. The Associated Press saw the first page of the report.

The report, which was handed to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday, may also finger the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad for launching the attack.

Ban said Friday that he believed there would be “an overwhelming report” that chemical weapons were used in the attack.

Meanwhile, the US, France, and Britain will seek a “strong” UN resolution threatening “serious consequences” if Assad fails to cooperate with an agreement signed Saturday between Russia and the United States requiring him to dismantle his chemical weapons program. Russia warned that such threats could “wreck” the deal, the BBC reported.

UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said the secretary-general would brief a closed session of the UN Security Council on the report’s contents Monday morning. He will also brief the 193-member General Assembly later in the day.

The inspection team, led by Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom, was mandated to report on whether chemical weapons were used in the August 21 attack in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta and, if so, which chemical agents were used — but not on who was responsible.

However, two UN diplomats said the report could point to the perpetrators, saying that the inspectors collected many samples from the attack and also interviewed doctors and witnesses.

The two diplomats said the inspectors had soil, blood and urine samples and may also have collected remnants of the rockets or other weapons used in the attack, which could point to those responsible. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions on the issue have been confidential.

The diplomats believe Sellstrom’s team can figure out what happened from what one called “the wealth of evidence” they collected.

A determination of the delivery system used in the attack — surface to surface rockets — and the composition of the chemical agent could point to the perpetrator, they said.

Ban’s spokesman Farhan Haq said the UN has made some efforts to speed up the analysis, noting that instead of two laboratories, the samples are being tested at four laboratories in Europe. The testing could have taken three to four weeks, but the secretary-general has been pressing for a speedier report.

One diplomat said Russia, a strong ally of Syria, was putting heavy pressure on Sellstrom to restrict his findings, but whether he does so remains to be seen. Ban could possibly go beyond the inspectors’ findings and characterize who did it, the diplomat said.

If Sellstrom’s report points to a perpetrator, there is certain to be demands for proof from the other side.

Russia still maintains that the attack was carried out by rebels to frame the Assad regime.

Damascus, considered to have one of the world’s largest stockpiles of chemical arms, is expected to report on all of its chemical arms by the end of the week and hand them over for destruction by mid-2014, as part of joining an international chemical weapons ban treaty. Syria touted the deal as a “victory.”

Israeli and American officials have expressed cautious optimism over the deal, though on Saturday US President Barack Obama warned that military action was still on the table should diplomacy fail.

The US, Britain, France and a number of NGOs have already said they believe sarin gas or another chemical was used in the attack, which was carried out by regime soldiers. The US says over 1,400 people were killed, while others cite lower death tolls.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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