UN vows ‘thorough investigation’ of alleged Syria chemical attack

Mass grave of people allegedly killed in a toxic gas attack near Damascus, Syria, August 21 London – Arab Today UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon promised on Friday a \"thorough, impartial and prompt investigation\" into alleged chemical attack in Syria, while his top disarmament

official will travel to Damascus on Saturday.
The news comes as opposition activists smuggled tissue samples from victims of Wednesday’s suspected mass poisoning to UN chemical weapons inspectors.
A UN statement said UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane will go to the Syrian capital on Saturday to urge authorities to allow access to the reported attack site to UN inspectors, who were in the country already to investigate previous allegations of chemical weapons use.
\"It is [Ban\'s] intention to conduct a thorough, impartial and prompt investigation on the reports of the alleged use of chemical weapons during these attacks,\" UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey said in the statement.
\"The secretary-general urges the Syrian authorities to respond positively and promptly to his request without delay, taking into account in particular that the Syrian Government has publicly expressed its own concerns regarding these events,\" he added.
The opposition National Coalition says more than 1300 people were killed by poisonous gases after the forces of President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons east and southwest of Damascus in attacks on Wednesday. The regime denies the accusations.
Russia also urged its Syria ally to cooperate with the UN experts but dismissed the suggestion made by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius that force could be used.
\"Against the background of another anti-Syrian wave of propaganda, we believe calls from some European countries to apply pressure on the UN Security Council and already now take a decision on the use of force are unacceptable,\" its foreign ministry said.
It described the attack as \"clearly provocative in nature\", charged that Internet footage said to implicate the regime had been posted before it took place and accused rebels of obstructing a probe.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on the Syrian government to cooperate with the UN chemical experts and urged rebels also to give them safe access to the sites of the alleged attacks.
Lavrov gave his statement after talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry during which they agreed on the need for an \"objective investigation,\" according to Moscow.
Footage distributed by activists in Syria after Wednesday’s attack shows unconscious children, people foaming around the mouth and doctors apparently administering oxygen to help them breathe has triggered revulsion around the world.
Earlier on Friday, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the use of chemical weapons in Syria would constitute a \"crime against humanity\", piling more pressure on Assad after French president Francois Hollande denounced the \"likely\" use of chemical weapons.
\"Any use of chemical weapons anywhere, by anybody, under any circumstances, would violate international law,\" Ban said at a United Nations event in Seoul.
\"Such a crime against humanity should result in serious consequences for the perpetrator.\"
\"This is a grave challenge to the entire international community - and to our common humanity,\" he said.
\"There is no time to waste,\" Ban said.
\"I can think of no good reason why any party - either government or opposition forces --would decline this opportunity to get to the truth of the matter.\"

The United States said it has yet to \"conclusively determine\" such weapons were used. President Barack Obama has ordered US spy agencies to urgently probe the claims, aides said.
Damascus denied it unleashed chemical weapons, particularly at a time when the UN was in Syria to inspect three sites where other such attacks allegedly took place.
It would be \"political suicide\" to go ahead with such an attack, said a senior security source.
It comes as Syria\'s key ally Russia joined international calls for the inspectors to be given access to the site of the alleged massacre.
Moscow suggested the attack could be a \"premeditated provocation\" by opposition forces but urged Assad and the UN to agree to a visit to the site in the Damascus suburbs of Ein Tarma and Zamalka.
Meanwhile, France raised the prospect of the use of force against the Syrian government if allegations of its use of chemical weapons are proved.
French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, said on Thursday that if the regime was shown to be responsible for the massacre, \"we need a reaction by the international community – a reaction of force\". He ruled out the deployment of foreign ground troops but \"a reaction that can take a form, I don\'t want to be more precise, of force\" – raising the prospect of air strikes by western powers.
None of the videos apparently showing the aftermath of the attack could be verified, but AFP analysed one of the most striking pictures showing the bodies of children using specialised software.
The analysis showed the picture was not manipulated and was taken, as presented, on August 21.
Former US Army Chemical Corps officer Dan Kaszeta said \"it would be relatively hard to fake\" the amount of video footage that has surfaced.
\"There\'s a lot of stuff that goes on in that video and a lot of the victims sadly are children, and it\'s hard to get small children to consistently fake things,\" said Kaszeta, an independent consultant.
Experts said convulsions, pinpoint pupils and laboured breathing seen in footage of alleged victims could be symptoms of nerve gas.
But they also insisted only blood and urine samples gathered from the victims could provide definitive proof.
\"I was sceptical about the claims of nerve agent neurotoxicants [but] I have revised my position on that a bit on the basis of footage I have seen... where a number of symptoms consistent with organophosphorus poisoning were apparent”, said chemical weapons specialist Jean Pascal Zanders.
Organophosphorus is a chemical compound used in nerve agents like sarin and kills by asphyxiation.
The US State Department said Obama had instructed intelligence services to gather information about the claims.
\"Right now, we are unable to conclusively determine CW [chemical weapons] use,\" said State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki.
But she said the administration had been focused since reports of the attack broke on efforts to \"nail down the facts.\"
One year ago, Obama warned the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a \"red line\" and have \"enormous consequences\".
More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria\'s 29-month war, the UN says. Millions more have been forced to flee their homes.

Source: AFP