UN confirms chemical weapons used in Syria

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Careful not to blame either side for a deadly chemical weapon attack, U.N. inspectors reported Monday that rockets loaded with the nerve agent sarin had been fired from an area where Syria's military has bases, but said the evidence could have been manipulated in the rebel-controlled stricken neighborhoods.

The conclusions represented the first official confirmation by impartial scientific experts that chemical weapons were used in Syria's civil war, but the inspectors' limited mandate barred them from identifying who was responsible for the Aug. 21 attack.

After months of negotiations, the U.N. inspectors went to Syria to visit the sites of three alleged chemical attacks earlier this year and were in the capital of Damascus on Aug. 21 when reports and videos began surfacing of a shelling attack in which victims experienced shortness of breath, disorientation, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, weakness and a loss of consciousness.

They finally gained access to three towns where the Aug. 21 attack occurred, and on one occasion their convoy was hit by sniper fire, but the inspectors were nonetheless able to collect a large amount of material and talk to survivors and witnesses.

"The environmental, chemical and medical samples we have collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used ... in the Ghouta area of Damascus," their report said.

"The conclusion is that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic, also against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale," they said. "This result leaves us with the deepest concern."

The report cited the following evidence to support its conclusions:

— Rockets and fragments were found to contain sarin. "Several surface-to-surface rockets capable of delivering significant chemical payloads were identified and recorded at the investigated sites," the investigators said.

— Close to the impact sites, in the area where people were affected, inspectors collected 30 soil and environmental samples — far more than any previous U.N. investigation — and in a majority of the samples, "the environment was found to be contaminated by sarin," its by-products, and "other relevant chemicals, such as stabilizers."

— Blood, urine and hair samples from 34 patients who had signs of poisoning by a chemical compound provided "definitive evidence of exposure to sarin by almost all of the survivors assessed."

— More than 50 interviews with survivors and health care workers "provided ample corroboration of the medical and scientific results."

The inspectors described the rockets used to disperse the sarin as a variant of an M14 artillery rocket, with either an original or an improvised warhead. The report said the rockets that hit two of the suburbs — Zamalka and Ein Tarma — were fired from the northwest, but it didn't say who launched them.

The inspectors did not provide a location for the rockets' launch site, but Qassioun Mountain, where the Syrian military is known to have bases, is roughly northwest of both suburbs.

The inspectors cautioned that the five sites they investigated had been "well- traveled by other individuals prior to the arrival of the mission."

"During the time spent at these locations, individuals arrived carrying other suspected munitions indicating that such potential evidence is being moved and possibly manipulated," the report said. The areas were under rebel control, but the report did not elaborate on who the individuals were.

In the report, Sellstrom said the team was issuing the findings on the Ghouta attacks "without prejudice" to its continuing investigation and final report on the alleged use of chemical weapons in three other areas. Ban said he expects the inspectors to return to Syria "as soon as possible" to complete their investigation.

Under an Aug. 13 agreement between the U.N. and the Syrian government, Sellstrom's team was scheduled to investigate an alleged chemical weapons attack on March 19 on the village of Khan al Assal outside Aleppo and alleged attacks on two other sites that were kept secret for security reasons. The inspectors' report for the first time identified the two sites still to be investigated as Sheik Maqsood and Saraqueb.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20130916/Syria-Diplomacy/

[Pooky 3,840]

Well, duh.

[mota bhai 2,675]

OMG WHO CARES!?!? Syria is not our friggin' problem!!!

[GandD 5,966]

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

"During the time spent at these locations, individuals arrived carrying other suspected munitions indicating that such potential evidence is being moved and possibly manipulated," the report said. The areas were under rebel control,"

UN report doesn't blame either side for the chem attack. = US needs to = Shut up - Get the chems - Get out - Stay out.

Let Assad do the world a favor = reduce Islamic Zombie population.