Syria-crisis: UN team survives attack, gathers ‘valuable’ evidence
Unidentified snipers fire at the convoy.
Unidentified snipers fire at the convoy. PHOTO: Reuters
UNITED NATIONS:
UN experts in Syria gathered “valuable” evidence on Monday on a suspected chemical weapons attack near Damascus despite coming under sniper fire, UN officials said.
The chemical weapons experts interviewed and took blood samples from victims of last week’s apparent poison gas attack in a rebel-held suburb of Syria’s capital, after the inspectors themselves survived sniper fire that hit their convoy.
Military chiefs from the United States and its European and Middle Eastern allies met in Jordan for what could be a council of war - should they decide to punish Syria for the worst reported chemical weapons attack in 25 years.
Washington says President Barack Obama is considering options to respond to what the United States believes was the mass gassing of civilians by President Bashar al Assad’s forces on August 21.
UN investigators crossed the frontline from the centre of the capital, which remains under Assad’s control, to inspect the Mouadamiya suburb, one of at least four neighbourhoods hit by the poison gas last Wednesday before dawn.
The United Nations said one vehicle in its convoy was crippled by gunshots fired by “unidentified snipers”. The team continued on after turning back for a replacement car.
“I am with the team now,” a doctor who uses the name Abu Karam told Reuters by telephone from Mouadamiya. “We are in the Rawda Mosque and they are meeting with the wounded. Our medics and the inspectors are talking to the patients and taking samples from the victims now.”
Washington and its allies say they worry that the time that has elapsed, and continuous shelling by Assad’s forces against the affected areas, could make it impossible for the inspectors to collect evidence. The United Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was confident the team could get the data it needs.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 27th, 2013.
UN experts in Syria gathered “valuable” evidence on Monday on a suspected chemical weapons attack near Damascus despite coming under sniper fire, UN officials said.
The chemical weapons experts interviewed and took blood samples from victims of last week’s apparent poison gas attack in a rebel-held suburb of Syria’s capital, after the inspectors themselves survived sniper fire that hit their convoy.
Military chiefs from the United States and its European and Middle Eastern allies met in Jordan for what could be a council of war - should they decide to punish Syria for the worst reported chemical weapons attack in 25 years.
Washington says President Barack Obama is considering options to respond to what the United States believes was the mass gassing of civilians by President Bashar al Assad’s forces on August 21.
UN investigators crossed the frontline from the centre of the capital, which remains under Assad’s control, to inspect the Mouadamiya suburb, one of at least four neighbourhoods hit by the poison gas last Wednesday before dawn.
The United Nations said one vehicle in its convoy was crippled by gunshots fired by “unidentified snipers”. The team continued on after turning back for a replacement car.
“I am with the team now,” a doctor who uses the name Abu Karam told Reuters by telephone from Mouadamiya. “We are in the Rawda Mosque and they are meeting with the wounded. Our medics and the inspectors are talking to the patients and taking samples from the victims now.”
Washington and its allies say they worry that the time that has elapsed, and continuous shelling by Assad’s forces against the affected areas, could make it impossible for the inspectors to collect evidence. The United Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was confident the team could get the data it needs.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 27th, 2013.