UN Chemical Inspection Underway Expected To Be Wrapping Things Up By Saturday

Saturday, August 31, 2013

UN Chemical Inspection Underway Expected To Be Wrapping Things Up By Saturday

UN Wrapping Up Syria Chemical Inspection Early

By MOLLY HUNTER | Good Morning America – 8 hours ago

U.N. weapons inspectors headed out for one final day of investigations after a delayed start this morning, as the United States signaled it is ready to launch a military campaign against the Syrian regime on its own.

The U.N. team was seen leaving their Damascus hotel this morning, only to turn back moments later. Journalists in Syria's capital reported heavy government shelling in nearby rebel-controlled suburbs but the U.N. team got underway around noon local time.
White House Says Syria Is Not Iraq
Traveling with the U.N. convoy this morning, the BBC reporter in Damascus tweeted that the inspectors unexpectedly visited a military hospital instead of the sites of the reported Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack.
The U.N. team plans to leave the country Saturday morning, one day ahead of schedule, and will report immediately to U.N. Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon.
While the international community awaits the results from the U.N. investigation, Washington is regrouping after losing British support Thursday night. Dealing a major blow to its stalwart ally, the British House of Commons voted down a motion authorizing military action in Syria.

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ALBERT AJI and KARIN LAUB August 29, 2013 Politics Barack Obama Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Activists said U.N. inspectors investigating suspected poison gas attacks toured stricken areas for a third day Thursday, ahead of a weekend departure from Syria that heightens the possibility of punitive strikes from Western countries against Syria.
U.S. President Barack Obama said he has not decided how the U.S. would respond to the Aug. 21 attacks near Damascus that, according to the group Doctors Without Borders, killed 355 people.
However, Obama signaled Wednesday that the U.S. is moving toward a punitive strike, saying he has "concluded" that Assad's regime is behind the attacks and that there "need to be international consequences."
Both Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron were trying to shore up domestic political support Thursday for possible military action.
The Obama administration was planning a teleconference briefing Thursday on Syria for leaders of the House and Senate and national security committees, U.S. officials and congressional aides said.
Cameron convened Parliament for an emergency meeting to vote on possible international action against Syria. Cameron promised he would not go to war until the U.N. weapons team has had a chance to report its findings.
In Vienna, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he spoke to Obama a day earlier about ways of expediting the U.N. investigation.

Ban said the U.N. team is to leave Syria on Saturday, and suggested that the Western powers hold off on any decisions until the inspectors have presented their findings.
Ban said he told Obama the U.N. investigators "should be allowed to continue their work as mandated by the member states and I told him that we will surely share our information and our analysis."

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