From 2013:
A senior United Nations official has claimed that Syrian rebels may have used chemical weapons against government forces.
Carla Del Ponte said evidence from casualties and medical staff indicated that rebel forces in the civil war had used the deadly nerve agent sarin.
‘Our investigators have been in neighbouring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals, and there are strong, concrete suspicions, but not yet incontrovertible proof, of the use of sarin gas,’ said Del Ponte in an interview with Swiss-Italian television.
‘This was use on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities.’
Last night, the UN commission looking into allegations of war crimes in Syria tried to row back on the comments by its human rights investigator, pointing out that conclusive evidence had not been discovered.
However, the White House said it was likely that President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, not the rebels, were behind any chemical weapons use.
Syrian government forces and the rebels have already accused each other of carrying out three attacks with chemical weapons.
Sarin has been classed as a weapon of mass destruction due to its potency and is banned under international law.
US President Barack Obama has said that the use or deployment of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a ‘red line’ that could lead to foreign military intervention.
Following two Israeli air strikes on military bases in the Syrian capital Damascus over the weekend, a Russian foreign ministry spokesman said: ‘We are seriously concerned by the signs of preparation for possible armed intervention in Syria.’
As a long-standing Syrian ally, Russia has protected President Assad by blocking Western efforts in the UN Security Council to push him from power. Israeli officials claim the air strikes were to ensure Lebanon’s Hezbollah did not receive a shipment of hi-tech missiles that could threaten Israel.
The comments by Ms Del Ponte, a member of the U.N. panel probing alleged war crimes in Syria, contradict claims by Britain and the U.S. that intelligence reports showed Syrian soldiers had used chemical weapons.
She said that the United Nations independent commission of inquiry on Syria has not yet seen evidence of government forces having used chemical weapons, which are banned under international law.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2320223/UN-accuses-Syrian-rebels-carrying-sarin-gas-attacks-blamed-Assads-troops.html#ixzz4f22d1imv
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