UN Inspectors Will Confirm Sarin Gas Used in Aug. 21 Attack
Photo of First Page of Syria Chemical Weapons Report:“Clear and Convincing Evidence”
EXCLUSIVE: Sept. 16, 2013 — The report of the UN chemical weapons investigators due to be released Monday morning in New York will confirm that sarin gas was used in the August 21st attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.
The report will say that that there is “clear and convincing evidence” that the nerve agent sarin was fired from rockets into the area.
On Sunday evening in New York, the UN photo Twitter feed released an image that showed the first page of the report that was handed to Ban Ki-moon by the head of the UN investigation team, Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom.
A close-up of the photo shows that the inspectors’ report that “the environmental and medical samples we have collected, provide clear and convincing evidence that…rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used.”
The report will be presented to the UN Security Council as well as the UN General Assembly on Monday. While the US and Russia has agreed on a deal to put Syria’s chemical weapons under international control, the admission by Syria that it possesses these weapons and the report of their use is bound to further calls for the Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.
A 1988 resolution following confirmation that chemical weapons were used by Iraq in its war against Iran compels the Security Council to act if there was any future confirmation of the use of these weapons ‘wherever and by whomever committed.’
- Denis Fitzgerald
First published in UN Tribune.
Photo: UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras
