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.”
The likelihood of military strikes around Syria has put its neighbors on high alert, and as RT’s Paula Slier reports, some worry it could be the catalyst for a large-scale regional war.
RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 1 billion YouTube views benchmark.
Would American direct intervention in Syria be about justice? Can its purpose be clearly defined? Is this a way to send a message to Iran? And has President Obama backed himself into a corner this time? CrossTalking with Pepe Escobar and Stephen Schlesinger.
RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 1 billion YouTube views benchmark.
Senior Iranian Army Commander Brigadier General Hossein Valivand
A senior Iranian Army commander says recent threats of war against Syria are part of the West’s “psychological warfare” against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
“All the remarks made regarding a military option against Syria is psychological warfare,” Brigadier General Hossein Valivand stated on Friday.
Valivand said the United States and other Western powers have resorted to threats of war to pressure the Syrian government and people, given the failure of foreign-backed Takfiri groups like al-Nusra Front to topple the Assad government.
“Among the goals of this propaganda and psychological warfare are winning concessions from Syria and countries backing it [on the one hand], and responding to pressures [exerted on the part] of the Zionist regime [of Israel] on the other hand,” he noted.
The commander, however, voiced confidence that the Syrian Army and people will foil the US-Israeli scheme.
The remarks come as the war rhetoric against Syria following an alleged chemical attack on the suburbs of Damascus on August 21 gains momentum.
Syria militants and foreign-backed opposition accuse the Syrian government of carrying out the attack, a claim Damascus has strongly rejected.
China, Iran and Russia, among other countries, have warned against any foreign military intervention in Syria, which has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011.
In addition, people around the world have staged demonstrations against the US threats of war against Syria.
Anti-war protests were also held in several cities across the US on the same day, including Washington, Los Angeles and Chicago. In New York City, supporters of the Syrian government gathered at Times Square chanting slogans against the US warmongering policies.
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