United Nations investigators tasked with determining if a gas attack occurred in Syria have arrived at the site of the alleged chemical assault, and are visiting civilians in hospital after their convoy was delayed by gunfire from snipers.
CBC's Melissa Kent, reporting from the United Nations in New York, said a spokesperson for the UN confirmed the inspectors are visiting hospital patients Monday in the eastern outskirts of Damascus, and are touring the rebel-held town to collect evidence.
"They are at a field hospital, presumably speaking to victims, taking urine, hair, blood, soil samples," Kent reported.
The arrival of the UN inspectors was delayed by sniper fire that targeted the team shortly after their convoy departed from the Four Seasons Hotel in central Damascus. The site of the alleged chemical weapons attack last week is about 20 minutes from the hotel.
Although there were no injuries from the assault on the UN inspectors, "the lead vehicle was so badly damaged … the team had to turn around and return to the government checkpoint to exchange vehicles," Kent said.
A statement from the UN secretary general's spokesperson said the first vehicle in the six-car convoy "was deliberately shot at multiple times by unidentified snipers in the buffer zone area."
The UN statement reiterated the need for "all sides" to co-operate fully so the investigators can collect evidence safely.
The Syrian government and opposition fighters continue to trade blame over who was responsible for the sniper attack.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had earlier pledged that a ceasefire would be put in place while the investigators continue their work. He has denied that his troops ever used chemical weapons during the fighting in a rebel-held suburb near Damascus.
Intimidation tactics are nothing new to UN weapons investigators in a foreign land, according to former UN arms investigator Tim Trevan.
"Clearly this is intimidation against the team," Trevan told CBC News from Washington. "It's something teams have to deal with, confrontation situations like this one."
Trevan added that although it's difficult to say whether the sniper was with the opposition or government forces, "the suspicion must be that this is the Syrian regime."
"They want to show the international community they're willing to go ahead and co-operate, and at the same time ensure it doesn't happen by subjecting the convoy to fire, making the inspection site itself too dangerous to visit," Trevan said.
The UN's stated mission is only to determine whether chemical weapons were used, but not to determine who used them.
However, United States strongly suspects that Assad's regime was behind the Aug. 21 attack near Damascus. That suspicion is supported by the international aid group Doctors Without Borders, which reported that 355 people were killed in an artillery attack that also included the purported use of a toxic chemical weapon.
The organization's president, Mego Terzian, has said the group is "100 per cent" certain that some sort of neurotoxic gas was deployed.
Its numbers are also consistent with those of Syrian activists and opposition leaders, who have said that between 322 and 1,300 people were killed in the alleged chemical attack.
'Too late to be credible'
Mohammed Abdullah, an activist in the eastern suburb of Saqba, said the UN was expected to visit the rebel-held area on Monday and that the weapons investigators would be under the protection of the Islam Brigade, which has thousands of fighters in the area.
'How can the government use chemical weapons, or any other weapons of mass destruction, in an area where its troops are situated? This is not logical.'—Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
Although Syria has said that a UN team was welcome to visit the site, a senior White House official dismissed the deal with inspectors as "too late to be credible."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague added that it was likely that artillery fire at the site would have destroyed much of the evidence.
Meanwhile, a defiant Assad claimed foreign leaders were making excuses so they could intervene militarily in Syria, telling a Russian newspaper the accusations that his troops used chemical weapons were "politically motivated."
"This is nonsense," Assad was quoted as saying in the interview with Russia's Izvestia daily. "First they level the accusations, and only then they start collecting evidence."
Assad said attacking such an area with chemical weapons would not make sense for the government as there was no clear front line between regime and rebel forces.
"How can the government use chemical weapons, or any other weapons of mass destruction, in an area where its troops are situated?" he said. "This is not logical. That's why these accusations are politically motivated, and a recent string of victories of the government forces is the reason for it."
Assad says inspections 'politically motivated'
Conclusions drawn by the UN team could have a dramatic impact on the trajectory of Syria's civil war, as France, Britain, Israel and some U.S. congressmen urge swift military action against Assad's regime.
Angela Kane, the UN high representative for disarmament affairs, watches a convoy of UN inspectors heading to the scene of an alleged chemical weapons strike in the rebel-held area known as Eastern Ghouta. (Khaled al-Hariri /Reuters) French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said no decision had been made on a military intervention but that any response would be "proportionate."
"It will be negotiated in coming days," Fabius told Europe 1 radio on Monday. He said that the lack of a UN blessing was problematic, but that all options remain on the table.
"The only option that I can't imagine would be to do nothing," Fabius said.
Meanwhile, the German government has indicated a willingness for the first time to support a possible military response in Syria, should it come down to that.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said Syria "must be punished" if UN inspectors are able to confirm the use of chemical weapons by Assad's forces.
Turkey, another of Assad's harshest critics, said it would back an international coalition to move against Assad if sanctions against the government fail.
However, Syria still has a staunch ally in Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western powers of having hawkish tendencies despite a lack of evidence to show the Syrian government was behind the purpoted chemical attack.
The countries calling for action "cannot provide evidence" of such an attack, Lavrov said in a televised conference on Monday, adding that talk of military action is undermining efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully.
With files from The Associated Press, ReutersAnda sedang membaca artikel tentang
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