America last night said it had the
first proof that sarin gas was used by Syria in an attack that killed
more than 1,400 civilians.
Secretary
of State John Kerry claimed samples of hair and blood provided to the
US by people in Damascus had ‘tested positive’ for the nerve agent.
He
said that President Bashar Assad has now ‘joined the list of Adolf
Hitler and Saddam Hussein’ in deploying chemical weapons against his
population. He added that the case for a military attack was getting
‘stronger by the day’ – which follows the leak of a report by French
spies that Assad has stockpiled more than 1,000 tonnes of poison gas
including sarin.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (right),
pictured meeting with Iranian head of parliament's national security and
foreign affairs commission, Aladin Borujerdi in Damascus, has vast
stockpiles of poison gas, according to a French intelligence report
Responsibility: French agents say Assad's regime
is behind the nerve gas attack in the Duma neighbourhood of Damascus on
August 21
On Saturday, President Barack Obama
said there would be no reprisals until Congress voted on military action
after its summer break on September 9.
In theory, as commander-in-chief of US forces, he could ignore any vote that refuses to authorise missile strikes.
Military action: Chancellor George Osborne said there would be no fresh attempt to persuade MPs to go to war with Syria
Opposition
politicians warned the president might struggle to secure backing. Even
Republican congressman Peter King, who supports military action against
Assad, said: ‘I think it is going to be difficult’. But bullish Mr
Kerry said of a Congress vote: ‘We are not going to lose.’
Speaking
of the evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria, he added: ‘I can
share with you today that blood and hair samples that have come to us
through an appropriate chain of custody, from east Damascus, from first
responders, it has tested positive for signatures of sarin.’
It
was the first time Washington has pinpointed the chemical used in the
attack on Ghouta, a rebel-held area of the Syrian capital on August 21.
Mr Kerry added: ‘So this case is building and this case will build.’
Assad
remained defiant last night in the face of possible military strikes,
insisting Syria was ‘capable of confronting any external aggression’.
The
tyrant said the threat of a bombardment would not discourage the regime
from its ‘principles’ of crushing the rebels, who he described as
‘terrorists’.
Syrian Deputy
Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad mocked President Obama’s decision to
consult Congress as showing ‘hesitation and confusion’. Yesterday it
emerged that details of the huge arsenal of chemical weapons stockpiled
by Syria have been unearthed by French spies.
Assad has amassed more than 1,000 tonnes of poison gas including sarin and VX, the most toxic nerve agent ever created.
A
leaked intelligence report said the tyrant possessed missiles capable
of firing the substances 300 miles – within range of British military
bases in Cyprus.
Syrian refugees are seen behind a fence at a
detention centre in Bulgaria, where they have fled to from a civil war
that has claimed more than 110,000 lives
Fear: Janda Hussein (left), a 24-year-old Syrian
woman, speaks to the media at a detention centre in the Bulgarian city
of Lubimets. Hevin Youseff (right), 28, is another example of the human
fallout of two and a half years of conflict that has sent millions to
flight
Secret
service chiefs in Paris also blamed the Syrian government for the
massacre, which the US claims killed 1,429 civilians including 426
children.
Assad’s henchmen
fired projectiles containing sarin into a rebel-held suburb simply to
‘cause terror’, they concluded. The four-page briefing paper was
compiled by agents working for the Direction Generale de la Securité
Exterieure, the French equivalent of MI6 and the Direction du
Renseignement Militaire, the military intelligence corps.
The
memo was sent to President François Hollande, who has vowed to join
military action to punish ‘those who took the heinous decision to gas
innocents’.
Mr Hollande is due to publish the document this week in a bid to convince the French public to back missile strikes.
He
came under fresh pressure yesterday to consult the French parliament
about taking military action, following the example of Mr Obama.
The leaked intelligence reports disclosed that Assad had accumulated one of the world’s biggest chemical arsenals.
A U.S. Air Force plane takes off from the
Incirlik airbase, in Turkey, today. President Barack Obama said he has
decided that the United States should take military action against Syria
Manoeuvres: Israeli troops have been taking part in exercises in the disputed area of the Golan Heights
Escalation: President Obama said Saturday he will ask the U.S. Congress to authorise military action against Syria
Stockpiles
include Yperite, a substance similar to mustard gas used in the First
World War, the tasteless and odourless nerve agent odourless VX and
hundreds of tonnes of sarin gas.
The
dictator also has an arsenal of bombs capable of dropping up to 300
litres of sarin, as well as Scud, Grad and SS21 missiles with a range of
310 miles and artillery shells which could fire poison gas 30 miles. A
French intelligence source said: ‘We have had the Syrian chemical
weapons in our sights for more than 25 years.’
The
report said Syria used a series of fake companies to buy chemicals,
supposedly for legitimate purposes, which it then used as weapons.
French
intelligence agents said poison gas canisters were fired from Grad
rockets, followed by a huge artillery barrage in a bid to destroy
evidence of chemicals.
Meanwhile,
UN weapons inspectors were yesterday preparing to brief
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon following a four-day investigation of the
attack.
They left Syria for
the Netherlands with their evidence early on Saturday, which will be
examined by the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons in
The Hague. Samples are thought to include soil, swabs from munitions,
blood and hair from the victims and possibly even flesh from dead
bodies.
It could be a fortnight before the final report is released.
dailymail.co.uk
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