LIVE UPDATES — Syria ‘chemical weapons’ crisis

RT News
[August 31, 2013]

[CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST RT UPDATES]

Syrian activists inspect the bodies of people they say were killed by nerve gas in the Ghouta region, in the Duma neighbourhood of Damascus August 21, 2013.(Reuters / Bassam Khabieh)

International pressure has been building for a military strike on Syria in the wake of an alleged chemical weapons attack in a Damascus suburb. The West has laid the blame at the feet of President Assad, as UN inspectors probe the site of the attack.

04:55 GMT: UN chemical weapons experts have reportedly crossed into neighboring Lebanon after finishing the investigation in Damascus.

03:01 GMT: UN chemical inspectors have departed from their hotel in central Damascus early Saturday morning and are currently on their way to Lebanon.

01:39 GMT: All Senate Republicans will be briefed on the potential US involvement in Syria during a conference call with the White House Saturday after a request from Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell, according to a new report.

McConnell has met with White House officials to discuss the Syrian government’s suspected use of chemical weapons, but said Friday it is important for every Republican lawmaker to learn the details of the situation.

US President Obama met with top Congressional leaders in a conference call Thursday to discuss the possibility of US forces launching a missile strike against Syrian President Bashar Assad. After the call Obama said the attack was a “challenge to the world” that threatens US allies in the region.

Friday, August 30

23:55 GMT: A ship carrying several hundred US Marines and V-22 Ospreys received order to remain in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, though officials told ABC News it is not yet part of planning for a potential strike against Syria.

The USS San Antonio is in the Mediterranean for a six-month stint assisting US Africa Command. The amphibious ship was told this week to head for a port call at a US naval base at the Greek island of Crete.

The ship joins five US Navy destroyers currently in the eastern Mediterranean that have capabilities of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles, which US officials have said would be the likely method of attack on Syria.

22:34 GMT:  The United Nations Security Council may have to wait as long as two weeks before reviewing the final results of an analysis of samples taken from where chemical weapons were used in Syria, diplomats told Reuters on Friday.

22:13 GMT: Washington’s statements threatening to use military force against Syria unilaterally are unacceptable, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement.

21:15 GMT: The intelligence assessment the US administration presented as evidence that the Syrian government deployed chemical weapons on its own people is baseless and based on “terrorist lies” and “media exaggeration,” Syrian foreign ministry sources say.

21:45 GMT: US House Speaker John Boehner has not ruled out calling the House of Representatives back to Washington for a vote on Syrian intervention, his spokesman told NBC News. Congress is currently on a five-week recess.

21:30 GMT: Iraqi Shi’ite militia group al-Nujaba claims it will target United States interests in Iraq should the US carry out military strikes in Syria, Reuters reported.

“All their interests and facilities in Iraq and the region will be targeted by our militants if the United States insists on attacking Syria,” said a spokesman for al-Nujaba, a group consisting in part of Shi’ites who have fought alongside pro-Syrian government forces. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is from the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.

21:00 GMT: US President Barack Obama discussed Syrian options Friday in phone calls with British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande, according to top US officials. The consultations follow Thursday’s vote by the British Parliament to reject participation in any potential strikes against Syria.

19:05 GMT: Turkey PM Tayyip Erdogan says any operation must follow the Kosovo model, and include a force on the ground. “We are not happy with a limited operation. It shouldn’t just be a day or two of strikes, and then nothing. We need regime change in Syria.”

[CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE UPDATES]