US claims Syria used chemical weapons
Source: Agencies |
April 26, 2013, Friday
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US intelligence has concluded "with some degree of varying confidence" that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons in its fierce civil war, the White House said yesterday.
However, officials also said more definitive proof was needed and the US was not ready to escalate its involvement in Syria.
The White House disclosed the new intelligence yesterday in letters to two senators, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, traveling in Abu Dhabi, also discussed it with reporters.
"Our intelligence community does assess, with varying degrees of confidence, that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically, the chemical agent sarin," the White House said in its letter, which was signed by Obama's legislative director Miguel Rodriguez.
Shortly after the letters was made public, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Capitol Hill that there were two instances of chemical weapons use.
Hagel said the use of chemical weapons "violates every convention of warfare."
It was not immediately clear what quantity of weapons might have been used.
President Barack Obama has said the use of chemical weapons would be a "game-changer" in the US position on intervening in the Syrian civil war, and the letter to reiterated that the use or transfer of such weapons in Syria was a "red line for the US."
However, officials also said more definitive proof was needed and the US was not ready to escalate its involvement in Syria.
The White House disclosed the new intelligence yesterday in letters to two senators, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, traveling in Abu Dhabi, also discussed it with reporters.
"Our intelligence community does assess, with varying degrees of confidence, that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically, the chemical agent sarin," the White House said in its letter, which was signed by Obama's legislative director Miguel Rodriguez.
Shortly after the letters was made public, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Capitol Hill that there were two instances of chemical weapons use.
Hagel said the use of chemical weapons "violates every convention of warfare."
It was not immediately clear what quantity of weapons might have been used.
President Barack Obama has said the use of chemical weapons would be a "game-changer" in the US position on intervening in the Syrian civil war, and the letter to reiterated that the use or transfer of such weapons in Syria was a "red line for the US."
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