Syria gas attack claim rocks world

WESTERN governments and Syrian opposition groups yesterday called on United Nations (UN) investigators to immediately visit districts of Damascus where a suspected chemical attack killed more than 1,000 civilians, while France called for a “strong” international response.

UN secretary-general Ban Kimoon late yesterday asked the Syrian government to allow UN inspectors to investigate the latest alleged chemical attack “without delay” and grant them access to the site in a Damascus suburb.

The appeal for access followed French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius’s comments earlier in Brussels that the world should respond “with force” should the use of chemical weapons be proved, but ruled out “boots on the ground” just yet.

Mr Fabius spoke a day after the UN Security Council on Wednesday night called for “a thorough,

impartial and prompt investigation” of the latest allegations against the regime, in a statement diplomats say was watered down by objections from Syria allies Russia and China.

Immediate international action is likely to be limited, with the divisions among major powers that have crippled efforts to quell two-and-half years of civil war still in evidence. The war is believed to have claimed more than 100,000 lives.

Images on Wednesday showing scores of bodies laid out on floors with no visible signs of external injury sent shock waves through the international community. Some of the bodies were of children.

Some showed people with foam around their mouths.

With Wednesday’s death toll estimated to be between 500 and 1,300, what would be the world’s most lethal chemical weapons attack since the 1980s prompted an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in New York. Syrian authorities have denied the army used chemical weapons.

Mr Assad’s forces have continued a heavy bombardment of the ring of rebel-held suburbs around the capital, known as the Ghouta region. Activists say this will hinder UN investigators from entering the area, only a few kilometres from where the team’s Damascus hotel is.

With no solid information emerging yesterday, a number of countries joined the Syrian opposition calling for UN action. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the “accusations should be immediately and thoroughly investigated by the United Nations expert mission in … Syria”.

The US said it suspected a gas attack but did not say who might be behind the atrocity, adding it was up to UN inspectors to provide independent confirmation.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said in Brussels: “If verified, this would be a shocking escalation of the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

“We are determined the people responsible will one day be held to account.”

Israel blamed Mr Assad’s forces. Reuters, AFP and Bloomberg