Monday, 26 August 2013

British FM doesn't discount military strike against Syria soon

British FM doesn't discount military strike against Syria soon, The British foreign secretary would not discount bombing regime targets inside Syria soon, warning a diplomatic effort to resolve the crisis hasn't borne fruit.

William Hague also insisted Britain, the United States and France were united to act against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose forces are accused of using chemical weapons against Syrians, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.

Britain faces a choice, Hague said, between military strikes against Syria or allowing tyrants to use chemical weapons "with impunity."

Britain and the United States believe with near certainty that forces loyal to Assad unleashed nerve gas on Jobar, a Damascus suburb, last week, which opposition forces said reportedly killed 355 to 1,100 people and injured 3,600 others.

Meanwhile, a U.N. spokesman said a team of its inspectors investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons returned to the Damascus suburb once it replaced one of its vehicles, which was hit by sniper fire Monday.

"The first vehicle of the chemical weapons investigation team was deliberately shot at multiple times by unidentified snipers in the buffer zone area," the U.N. spokesperson told reporters.

"As the car was no longer serviceable, the team returned safely back to the government checkpoint," the United Nations said. The team, led by Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom, returned to the inspection site once the vehicle was replaced.

"It has to be stressed again that all sides need to extend their cooperation so that the team can safely carry out [its] important work," the U.N. spokesman said.

In Seoul, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said no more delays can be tolerated.

"We have all seen the horrifying images on our television screens and through social media. Clearly this was a major and terrible incident," Ban said.

CNN reported there was an explosion near the site the inspectors planned to visit. Some witnesses said it was caused by incoming ordnance.

Also Monday, Assad repeated his statement that his army had nothing to do with the use of poison gas.

"The area of the claimed attack is in contiguity with the Syrian Army positions, so how is it possible that any country would use chemical weapons in an area where its own forces are located?" he asked in an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestia.

He warned an attack on his country would "face failure."

"Statements made by politicians in the U.S. [and other countries] are an insult to common sense, a disregard of people's public opinion. [The allegations] are nonsense: first indict and only then collect evidence?" Assad said in the interview published Monday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said U.S. forces were "prepared to exercise whatever option" President Barack Obama ordered.

Obama warned a year ago that Syrian use of chemical weapons would cross a "red line."

If the United States strikes or invades Syria, it will "face failure, as in all previous wars they conducted from Vietnam to the present day," Assad warned. "Yes, great powers can unleash a war, but can they win?"

Syrian ally Russia has accused rebels of staging the attack.

Obama spoke with British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the weekend. All the leaders agreed on the need for a "serious response" to the alleged attack, officials said.

It was not immediately clear whether France and Germany would participate in any military action against Syria.

Russia cautioned against military action without U.N. approval, saying countries wouldn't want to repeat the 2003 U.S.-British-led coalition "mistakes" in the invasion of Iraq to remove weapons of mass destruction that were never found.

Iran predicted "harsh consequences" if the United States intervened against the Iranian ally.

Israeli President Shimon Peres called for an international effort to "take out" Syrian chemical weapons.

The most likely military option involves long-range cruise-missile strikes from a U.S. destroyer and other military watercraft in the Mediterranean Sea because the Syrian air force is considered strong enough to shoot down enemy jets, officials told several news organizations.

A British nuclear-powered submarine is in the region and a number of British warships are traveling to the Mediterranean for exercises, the Telegraph reported.

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