Tuesday, August 27, 2013

UN Official, Syrian Rebels Used Sarin Nerve Gas, Not Assad’s Army




Posted by: Paul EbelingPosted on: August 27, 2013 UN Official, Syrian Rebels Used Sarin Nerve Gas, Not Assad’s Army
Testimony from victims now strongly suggests it was the rebels, not the Syrian  government, that used Sarin Nerve Gas during a recent incident in the revolution-wracked nation, a senior UN diplomat said Monday.
 
Carla del Ponte, a member of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, told Swiss TV there were “strong, concrete  suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof,” that rebels seeking to oust  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used  the nerve agent.
 
But she said her panel had not yet seen any evidence of Syrian government forces using chemical weapons (CW), according to the BBC, she added that more investigation was needed.
 
Damascus is facing growing Western accusations that its forces used  such weapons, which US President Obama has described as crossing a Red Line. But Ms. del Ponte’s remarks may serve to shift  the focus of international concern.
 
Ms. del Ponte, who in Y 1999 was  appointed to head the UN was crimes tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, has sometimes been a controversial figure. She was removed from her Rwanda post by the UN Security Council in Y 2003, but she continued as the Chief prosecutor for the Yugoslav tribunal until  Y 2008.
 
Rebel Free Syrian Army spokesman Louay Almokdad denied that rebels had use chemical weapons (CW).

http://www.livetradingnews.com/un-official-syrian-rebels-used-sarin-nerve-gas-assads-army-6636.htm