Amman: France said on Tuesday it had performed tests that proved President Bashar al-Assad's forces had used nerve gas in Syria's civil war, a "red line" that the United States and other countries have repeatedly said would demand a response.
Washington separately said it would deploy Patriot missiles and F-16 fighter jets to Syria's neighbour Jordan for a military exercise and perhaps longer. Russia, Assad's main international backer, criticized the move and accused the West of inflaming the conflict by sending arms to the war zone.
French officials said their tests were the first that complied with international standards and proved that chemical weapons were used in Syria.
Washington, which has said for months it believes Assad's forces probably used chemical weapons, said it still needed to study the evidence. "We need more information" about claims of such use, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters....
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12:30 PM, Jun 05, 2013
Amman: France said on Tuesday it had performed tests that proved President Bashar al-Assad's forces had used nerve gas in Syria's civil war, a "red line" that the United States and other countries have repeatedly said would demand a response. Washington separately said it would deploy Patriot missiles and F-16 fighter jets to Syria's neighbour Jordan for a military exercise and perhaps longer. Russia, Assad's main international backer, criticized the...
06:32 AM, Jun 05, 2013
Baghdad: Iraq has captured a suspected al Qaeda cell that planned to produce chemical poisons such as mustard gas to attack Iraqi forces and to ship overseas for attacks on Europe and the United States, the government said on Saturday. The announcement was made as investigators look into allegations over the use of sarin nerve gas in next-door Syria where rebels and President Bashar al-Assad's forces have blamed each other...
07:38 PM, Jun 02, 2013
Washington: President Barack Obama said on Thursday he reserves the right to resort to a range of both diplomatic and military options if he receives conclusive proof that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons in the country's civil war. Obama, at a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, said there was evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria but that it is...
11:45 PM, May 16, 2013
Amman: Syrian casualties treated in Turkey show signs of being victims of chemical weapons, the Turkish foreign minister said on Friday, adding to indications that President Barack Obama's "red line" on the use of such arms may have been crossed. Wary of the false intelligence used to justify the 2003 war in Iraq, the United States says it wants proof that chemical weapons have been used before taking any action...
06:56 AM, May 11, 2013
London: Britain said on Thursday it was "very likely" the Syrian government had used chemical weapons, and Turkey announced it was stepping up testing of people fleeing the Syrian civil war for traces. US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed gratitude to Russia for its willingness to try to arrange a "Geneva two" conference to negotiate an end to the conflict, in a sign of a thawing of the long...
04:06 AM, May 10, 2013
Washington: The US is considering providing lethal weapons to Syrian opposition forces and a decision is expected within weeks, a media report said on Wednesday. "President Barack Obama is preparing to send lethal weaponry to the Syrian opposition and has taken steps to assert more aggressive US leadership among allies and partners seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad," the Washington Post reported, citing senior US officials. "The officials said...
04:29 AM, May 02, 2013
Washington: US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced the US intelligence community believes that the Syrian government used sarin gas on a small scale against the rebel forces that are trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad's government. The disclosure created a quandary for US President Barack Obama, who has set the use of chemical weapons as a "red line" that Assad must not cross, and triggered calls from some hawkish Washington...
08:44 AM, Apr 26, 2013
Brussels: US Secretary of State John Kerry urged NATO on Tuesday to prepare for the possible use of chemical weapons by Syria on the same day that a senior Israeli military intelligence official said Syrian President Bashar Assad had used such weapons in March 2013 in his battle against insurgents. It was the first time Israel had accused the embattled Syrian leader of using his stockpile of nonconventional weapons. The...
07:28 AM, Apr 24, 2013
United Nations: The United Nations and Syria have not yet agreed on how much access a team of chemical weapons inspectors will have to investigate allegations that such arms were used recently in the Syrian conflict, according to a letter to Syria's UN envoy. The United Nations said in March it would investigate the Syrian government's allegations that rebels used chemical arms in an attack near the northern city of...
04:15 AM, Apr 05, 2013
The US ambassador to Syria said on Wednesday there is no evidence so far to back reports that chemical weapons were used in Syria on Tuesday, but the United States has a large team investigating the issue. ...
08:30 AM, Mar 21, 2013
Syria's chemical weapons are still secure despite the fact that President Bashar al-Assad has lost control of parts of the country, a senior Israeli defence official said on December 23. Amos Gilad told Army Radio that the civil war between Assad and opposition forces fighting to topple him had become deadlocked, but that the Syrian leader showed no signs of heeding international calls to step down. ...
05:43 PM, Dec 23, 2012
NATO told Syrian President Bashar al Assad on Tuesday that any use of chemical weapons in his fight against encroaching rebel forces would be met by an immediate international response. ...
03:07 AM, Dec 05, 2012
US President Barack Obama, however, warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that US forces could move against him if he deployed his chemical weapons. ...
09:58 AM, Aug 21, 2012
Beirut: The Syrian regime threatened on Monday to use its chemical and biological weapons in case of a foreign attack, in its first ever acknowledgement that it possesses weapons of mass destruction. Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi vowed, however, that Damascus would not use its unconventional arms against its own citizens. The announcement comes as Syria faces international isolation, a tenacious rebellion that has left at least 19,000 people dead...
06:28 PM, Jul 23, 2012
Cairo: Chemical weapons from the Muammar Gaddafi era have been found in Libya and the new government has sought international help in securing them, National Transitional Council Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril has said. He said the NTC forces have found two chemical weapons sites in the country and they are currently under guard. Jibril said the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Hague and the United...
07:46 PM, Oct 31, 2011
Only third country in the world to keep its commitment to treaty. ...
03:39 PM, May 14, 2009
Israel's attacks on Hamas may have hurt Gaza civilians rather brutally. ...
09:13 AM, Jan 27, 2009
The conflict in Gaza has entered the 18th day with the death toll reaching 900. ...
06:23 PM, Jan 13, 2009
India still has a stockpile of chemical weapons and this could force sanctions. ...
07:55 AM, Oct 28, 2007
