Syrian government behind 'massive chemical attack'



Syrian opposition forces say they're not convinced the US will launch an attack against President Assad

Syria conflict

France says the suspected chemical attack near Damascus last month "could not have been ordered and carried out by anyone but the Syrian government".
A report presented to parliament by Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the assault on 21 August involved the "massive use of chemical agents".
It concluded that at least 281 deaths could be attributed to the attack.
France and the US are pushing for punitive military action, which the UK parliament rejected last week.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has again denied being behind the attack.
In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, he said it would have been "illogical".

Analysis

image of Jeremy BowenJeremy BowenBBC Middle East editor, Damascus
I think people I've spoken to within the Syrian regime quite like being eyeball-to-eyeball with the US. I think they believe President Obama is bent on attacking Syria, in fact that's what they say quite openly.
So while they describe the US decision to refer it to a vote in Congress as wisdom, they say it should also go back to the UN and that any action would be illegal if it didn't get UN authorisation.
Since the Russians have said very openly in the Security Council that they wouldn't vote to authorise anything like this, and President Obama has said he's very comfortable going ahead without a Security Council resolution, that means in a sense, in the eyes of the Syrian regime, the battle lines are now drawn, and they are trying to get themselves ready for whatever happens.
He also warned that foreign military action could ignite a wider regional conflict.
"Everyone will lose control of the situation when the powder keg explodes. Chaos and extremism will spread", he said.
Mr Assad also warned France that there would be "repercussions" from any involvement in Syria.
Vote pressure
The alleged chemical attack took place in the Ghouta, an agricultural belt around the capital on 21 August. The US put the death toll at 1,429, including 426 children.
The US administration has already presented its case that the Assad regime was behind the attack. On Monday Mr Ayrault presented France's own intelligence dossier to parliamentary leaders.
The nine-page report drawn up by France's military and foreign intelligence services states: "Analysis of the information we have today leads us to conclude that, on 21 August 2013, the Syrian regime launched an attack on certain districts on the outskirts of Damascus held by opposition units that combined conventional means and massive use of chemical agents."
Syria's deputy foreign minister said terrorism will flourish everywhere if Syria is attacked
French MPs are due to debate the issue in an extraordinary session of parliament on Wednesday.
However, Mr Ayrault has ruled out a vote, as happened in the UK and is scheduled to take place in the US after 9 September.
President Francois Hollande is constitutionally able to order an attack without parliamentary approval.
US lawmakers are due to reconvene next week, and White House officials have said that when it comes to a vote, they believe there will be enough support for the president.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday samples from hair and blood gathered after the 21 August attack had tested positive for "signatures of sarin", and that he was confident Congress would give its approval for strikes, "because they understand the stakes".
However some lawmakers have expressed doubts about President Barack Obama's plan for a "limited, narrow" military operation, questioning its purpose and effectiveness.

“Start Quote

President Obama has taken the biggest gamble of his presidency”
image of Mark MardellMark MardellNorth America editor
By putting off an attack and seeking congressional approval, President Obama has taken the biggest gamble of his presidency, says the BBC's North America editor Mark Mardell.
Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said he is personally convinced that a chemical attack took place and that the Assad government was responsible.
There must be "a firm international response" to deter any future use of such weapons, he said, or else it would send a "dangerous signal to dictators all over the world".
But he added that he did not envisage any further role for Nato, saying he would expect any military response to be "a very short, measured, targeted operation" and that the alliance's resources would not be needed.
'Support for Islamists'
Meanwhile fighting has continued across Syria, in a conflict which has already left an estimated 100,000 people dead since 2011.
On Monday, activists said 20 rebel fighters were killed in an army ambush in Adra, north-east of Damascus, AFP news agency reports.
In other developments:
  • A BBC poll shows about three-quarters of the British public believe MPs were right to reject UK military action in Syria in a vote last week
  • UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said parliament will not vote again if stronger evidence of a state chemical attack emerges
  • Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the US intelligence blaming Damascus is "absolutely unconvincing"
On Sunday, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told the BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Damascus that any attack against Syria would be "support for al-Qaeda and its affiliates, whether Jabat al-Nusra or the State of Islam in Syria and Iraq".

A cafe damaged by a rocket in the al-Maliki district of Damascus, Syria (2 Sept 2013)While fighting rages on in Syria, debate continues in the US and France over whether they will intervene militarily following the chemical attack of 21 August.

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