UN's top disarmament official in Damascus to push for access to site of suspected chemical weapons attack. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).
- France pledges force over alleged gas attack
- 'Chemical' horror: Activists claim 1300 dead
- Distressing images of victims released
- Bodies lined shoulder-to-shoulder in tragedy
US President Barack Obama met with security aides Saturday to discuss a response to Syria's alleged chemical attack after the Pentagon said it was preparing for possible military action.
The meeting came a day after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the military had presented options to Obama and was moving forces into place ahead of any possible decision.
However, despite the reports of a massive chemical attack on rebel-held areas near Damascus, Obama has continued to voice caution, warning that a hasty military response could have unforseen consequences, including embroiling the United States in another prolonged Middle East conflict.
"The president has directed the intelligence community to gather facts and evidence so that we can determine what occurred in Syria. Once we ascertain the facts, the president will make an informed decision about how to respond," a White House official said.
"We have a range of options available, and we are going to act very deliberately so that we're making decisions consistent with our national interest as well as our assessment of what can advance our objectives in Syria."
The Pentagon is moving forces into place in case President Obama opts for military action against Syria.
Obama is under mounting pressure to act following reports of an alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus that opposition groups say killed as many as 1,300 people.
Doctors without Borders (MSF) said on Saturday that three Syrian hospitals have received around 3,600 patients displaying "neurotoxic symptoms", 355 of whom have died.
If confirmed, it would be the deadliest use of chemical agents since Saddam Hussein gassed Iranian troops and Kurdish rebel areas in northern Iraq in the 1980s.
The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons, and on Saturday state television said soldiers entering a rebel-held area had "suffocated" on poison gases deployed by "terrorists."
President Barack Obama says a possible chemical weapons attack in Syria this week is a "big event of grave concern". Picture: AP
Obama warned a year ago that the use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces was a "red line" that could bring about a more strident Western intervention in the two-year-old civil war.
However, Obama has also voiced caution about the kind of intervention that could draw the United States into a quagmire.
US commanders have nevertheless prepared a range of options for Obama if he chooses to proceed with military strikes against Damascus, Hagel told reporters during a visit to Southeast Asia.
"The Defense Department has a responsibility to provide the president with options for all contingencies," Hagel said.
This image provided by Shaam News Network on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, purports to show a young victim of an attack on Ghouta, Syria recuperating in a hospital. Picture: AP
"And that requires positioning our forces, positioning our assets to be able to carry out different options -- whatever the president might choose."
The New York Times cited a senior US administration official as saying Washington was looking at NATO's air war over Kosovo in 1999 as a blueprint for strikes on Syria without a UN mandate.
Russia, which has had a close military alliance with Damascus going back decades, has blocked UN action on Syria since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011.
Iran, another close ally of the Syrian government, has meanwhile blamed rebels for the chemical weapons attack and warned the West against any kind of intervention.
The UN high representative for disarmament affairs Angela Kane (R) arrives at a hotel in Damascus on Saturday. Picture: AP
Previous reports of the use of chemical weapons on a small scale led Washington to announce in June that it would provide military aid to the rebels, but it is still unclear what that entails.
In an interview with CNN broadcast Friday, Obama said the alleged chemical attack appeared to have been a "big event, of grave concern," but voiced caution about any US military response.
"Sometimes what we've seen is folks will call for immediate action, jumping into stuff that does not turn out well, gets us mired in very difficult situations," said Obama, who has spent much of his presidency winding down unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He warned that America could get "drawn into very expensive, difficult, costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region."
Syria has denied opposition claims that chemical attacks on several Damascus suburbs killed 1,300 people including children. Mana Rabiee reports.
In spite of the Syrian denials French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Saturday that all indications show that Damascus was behind the "chemical massacre".
"All the information at our disposal converges to indicate that there was a chemical massacre near Damascus and that the Bashar regime is responsible," Fabius said on a visit to Ramallah in the West Bank.
UN Under Secretary General Angela Kane arrived in the Syrian capital on Saturday for talks aimed at establishing the terms of an enquiry into the alleged attacks, an AFP journalist said.
"We ask that the UN team that is there can be deployed very quickly and make the necessary inspections," Fabius said.
Syrian rebels claim this is one of the missiles carrying chemicals that targeted eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus.
"The information which we have shows that this chemical massacre is of such gravity that it obviously cannot pass without a strong reaction," he added.
The Syrian government has so far not said whether it will let UN inspectors visit the sites.
Meanwhile Iran, Syria's ally in the region, claimed on Saturday that there was "proof" Syrian rebels were behind the gas attack.
"We are very concerned about information regarding the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and we strongly condemn the use of such weapons," foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi said, quoted by ISNA news agency.
"There is proof terrorist groups carried out this action," Araqchi said in reference to Wednesday's allegedly deadly attacks in the Damascus area, without elaborating. Iran also warned against any Western military intervention in the 29-month conflict.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague on Friday called for UN experts to be granted immediate access to the site near Damascus to investigate claims of the horrific gas attack on Wednesday that left hundreds dead.
Evidence of the attack was deteriorating every day, Hague warned, who explicitly accused the Assad regime of carrying out the atrocity.
"We do believe this is a chemical attack by the Assad regime on a large scale, but we would like the United Nations to be able to assess that," Hague said in a televised statement.
An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube by the Arbeen unified press office allegedly shows dead sheep lying on the ground in eastern Ghouta.
Images released yesterday featuring the bodies of dead children lined up on the ground - some residents placed chunks of ice on the bodies to preserve them until burial - sparked international condemnation.
Activists said the Syrian regime killed at least 1300 people with toxic gas, although casualty estimates varied substantially.
The horrific story of chemical warfare
Hague said there was "no other plausible explanation" than the use of chemical weapons for "casualties so intense, in such a small area, on this scale".
A handout image released by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows Syrians carrying the body of a child into a mass grave following what Syrian rebels claim to be a toxic gas attack by pro-government forces.
He added: "This is our priority at the moment: to make sure that a UN team can investigate on the ground and establish the facts."
If this does not happen, Hague said Britain would return to the UN Security Council to "get a stronger mandate and for the world to speak together more forcefully about this so that there can be access".
Harrowing footage posted online, showing unconscious children and people foaming around the mouth, has triggered revulsion around the world.
"This is not something that a humane or civilised world can ignore," said Hague.
A Syrian girl in shock screams in Arabic "I am alive" following an attack in which Syrian opposition claim the regime used chemical weapons in eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus. The image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube by the Arbeen unified press office on August 21, 2013. It has not been independently verified.
He said the fact a UN team in Damascus had not yet been able to visit the site suggested that "the Assad regime has something to hide."
Hague said he had discussed the Syria crisis with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday and hoped to speak to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later.
Britain would not rule out any options on Syria, as long as they complied with international law "and could save innocent lives," Hague added.
Republican Senator John McCain warned on Thursday that Barack Obama had given Syria President Bashar al-Assad a "green light'' to commit atrocities by failing to use military force to respond to previous attacks.
There are claims thousands of people have been killed in a Syrian army chemical weapon bombardment.
"When the president of the United States says that if he uses these weapons that it would be a, quote, 'red line and a game-changer,' (Assad) now sees that as a green light,'' he told CNN.
"The word of the president of the United States can no longer be taken seriously, as it isn't throughout the entire region.''
Mr McCain has been a frequent critic of Mr Obama's reluctance to commit US military forces to protect civilians in Syria, and bemoaned the horror of the latest attack.
He said that in "couple of days'' US air power could take out Syrian air force runways.
A handout image released by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows a woman mourning over a body wrapped in shrouds laid out in a line on the ground with other victims which Syrian rebels claim were killed in a toxic gas attack by pro-government forces.
"We can supply the right kind of weapons to rebels, establish a no-fly zone by moving Patriot missiles up to the border. This can be done very easily.''
Australian response: Will we go to war over this?
In Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he would be speaking to the UN Secretary General about the crisis.
Rudd to break from campaign over Syria
This citizen journalism image provided by the Local Committee of Arbeen which has been authenticated based on its contents, shows a Syrian girl receiving treatment at a makeshift hospital in Arbeen town, Damascus after an alleegd toxic gas attack. (AP Photo/Local Committee of Arbeen)
"The UN's position now is investigators are in the country. We are now as an international community calling upon the Syrian Government to give them full access to this most recent horrific incident in order to establish the facts," he said.
Mr Rudd gave no indication of how he would respond if it is a confirmed chemical massacre, saying he plans to take a calm and measured approach to the situation.
Comment: How can we ignore these pictures?
Australian Zaky Mallah, who has travelled to Syria and lived with Free Syrian Army rebels engaged in the bloody civil war against President el Assad, told news.com.au the Syrian leader had used chemical weapons before.
"Assad is in desperate need to wipe out the rebels close to his compound," Mr Mallah said.
"He has used chemical weapons before and no action was taken.
Syria tensions don't stop Abbott
In March, at least 30 were killed when a rocket allegdly containing chemical weapons hit the village of the village of Khan al-Assal in northern Syria.
"The world cannot just sit back and let him nuke innocent people," Mr Mallah said.
Zaky Mallah was the first Australian charged under anti-terrorist laws, for making a jihad-style video. He was acquitted of the charges.
In one video of the alleged massacre posted on YouTube, children are seen receiving first aid in a field hospital, notably oxygen to help them breathe. Doctors appear to be trying to resuscitate unconscious children.
A handout image released by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows people inspecting bodies of children and adults laying on the ground as Syrian rebels claim they were killed in a toxic gas attack.
Another video showed what activists said was a case of hysteria following a chemical strike in the eastern suburbs. The authenticity of the videos has not immediately been verified.
A young girl held her head in her hands and frantically repeated "I'm alive'', as a man in a white coat tried to comfort her.
A pharmacist who treated victims said: "Their mouths were foaming, their pupils were constricted, and those who were brought in while still alive could not draw their breaths and died subsequently."
Survivors, some twitching uncontrollably, lay on gurneys with oxygen masks covering their faces.
If confirmed, the attack would be the largest scale use of chemical weapons since Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces attacked the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Syrian forces on Thursday bombed and shelled a number of rebel zones where the Coalition alleged the attacks took place the previous day.
Should the allegations be true, "the attacks would amount to war crimes," said Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
The allegations of gassing civilians dwarfed all previous such accounts in the increasingly bloody civil war.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that 647 Syrians were killed in the attacks, and it attributed nearly 590 of those deaths to chemical weapons.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, considered the most authoritative group tracking casualties in the conflict, estimated at least 136 dead from an air assault but didn't address whether chemical weapons appeared to be involved.
Syria is said to have one of the world's largest stockpiles of chemical weapons, including mustard gas and the nerve agent sarin.
Jean Pascal Zanders, an independent researcher who specialises in chemical and biological weapons and disarmament, said that in videos of the aftermath of the attacks, the hue of the victims' faces appeared to show many suffered from asphyxiation.
However, he said the symptoms they exhibited were not consistent with mustard gas or the nerve agents VX or sarin.
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