Even as the UN team investigating the alleged chemical attack in Syria had to postpone their investigation and yielded no results, Western states continued pushing for a “firm response” amid growing speculation a strike could take place within days.
A UN spokesperson on Tuesday announced that the planned visit to
the site of last week’s alleged chemical weapons attack outside
Damascus has been postponed “in order to improve preparedness
and safety for the team.” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
has urged all sides in Syrian conflict to “give safe passage
and access” to the UN chemical weapons investigation team.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem also dismissed the claims
that the Syrian government was delaying the probe’s start, saying
that “UN team did not ask to go to the site until
Saturday.”
Meanwhile, London, Paris and Washington continued to step up
tough rhetoric on Syria, saying there should be a strong
international response to the alleged chemical attack.
French President Francoise Hollande said France is “ready to
punish” those behind the “chemical massacre” in Syria, and
said that his government believes Damascus carried out the
attack.
France is going to increase military support for the Syrian
opposition, the president said, as he addressed foreign
ambassadors in Paris. He announced a defense council meeting on
Wednesday, and pledged to brief the French parliament about it.
Hollande appeared to argue that what he called a
“responsibility to protect civilians” could override
international law, which he said “must evolve with the
times.”
Contradicting the earlier remarks made by UK Foreign Secretary
William Hague, British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday said
that any decision on Syria will be taken under a “strict
international framework.”
However, he also announced that Britain’s parliament will be
recalled Thursday to vote on the UK’s government’s own response
to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria.
British armed forces are preparing an emergency plan in case of
armed response to the attack, Downing Street added.
That could represent a “specific” military action against
Syria, Cameron added later on Tuesday, saying the UK is not
considering “getting involved in a Middle Eastern war.”
But the world “should not stand idly by” following the
Ghouta attack, he stressed.
UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s repeated the message that
the government was not considering “trying to topple the Assad
regime,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said the US’
options were “not about regime change” in Syria. However,
he warned of an imminent response to the “violation of an
international norm.”
US promises evidence to justify limited strike on Syria
“A decision about the use of military force has not been made.
The president is reviewing his options, plural,” the White
House spokesman said.
The US will release a public version of an intelligence report on
chemical weapons use in Syria “in the coming days,” Carney
added.
The White House statements came hours after US Defense Secretary
Chuck Hagel announced that the American military has moved up
assets and was ready to take any action on Syria ordered by
President Obama.
“We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfill and comply
with whatever option the president wishes to take,” Hagel
told BBC in an interview. He said US forces were ready to execute
a range of options from a limited cruise missile strike to
putting boots on the ground in Syria.
Despite the senior politicians’ assurances that no decisions have
yet been taken, reports begun to surface on Tuesday that a
military strike could by launched against Syria “within
days.”
Unnamed White House officials told the Washington Post that Obama
was considering ordering a limited cruise missile
strike on Syria as early as Thursday. Other media sources
claimed that any US attack was unlikely while the UN team remains
in Syria, alluding that the strike would be on Sunday at the
earliest.
The notion of an imminent strike also fueled reports that the
Geneva-2 peace conference on Syria was being indefinitely
postponed, if not canceled. However, sources told Reuters on
Tuesday that the Syrian opposition has been instructed to prepare
for Geneva-2 despite the possible offensive.
Russia warns of ‘catastrophic consequences’
US Secretary of State John Kerry has outlined the US stance on
Syria in a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
on Tuesday, citing the information from reliable sources which he
claimed proves the Assad government was to blame for the alleged
chemical attack.
Such an approach was rejected by Sergey Lavrov, who brought
forward Russian arguments stressing the need for constructive and
in-depth exchange of expertise regarding possible chemical
weapons use.
The guidelines for conducting the probe had been agreed between
Damascus and the UN, and it was absolutely necessary to ensure
successful work of the expert group in Syria, Lavrov emphasized
according to the ministry’s statement.
The West has engineered a media campaign to facilitate a military
incursion, Lavrov said earlier adding that “those involved with
the incident wanted to sabotage the upcoming Geneva peace talks.”
Following the alleged chemical attack, the Syrian National
Coalition, the official opposition to President Bashar Assad,
called off the long-delayed peace summit in Geneva.
“We refuse to speak about Geneva after what's happened. We must
punish this dictator, Bashar the Chemist we call him, and then we
can discuss Geneva," coalition Secretary General Badr Jamous
said.
The US has also decided to put off bilateral talks with Russia
over Syria late Monday, citing “ongoing consultations” on
the alleged chemical weapons use.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov expressed his
concern over Washington’s decision adding that discussing terms
for a political solution were needed now more than ever in the
face of possible military intervention in Syria.
On Tuesday Russia once again warned military intervention in
Syria bypassing the UN charter could have "catastrophic
consequences" for the whole region.
"Attempts to bypass the Security Council, once again to create
artificial groundless excuses for a military intervention in the
region are fraught with new suffering in Syria and catastrophic
consequences for other countries of the Middle East and North
Africa," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich
said in a statement.