Syria: Russia And US Send Warships To Med

Russia and the US have sent further warships to boost their military capacity in the Mediterannean as expectations grow of an imminent strike on Syria.

Syria's ally Russia is sending an anti-submarine ship and a missile cruiser to the Mediterranean, according to Russian news agency Interfax.

An armed forces source reportedly said the planned deployment was in response to the "well-known situation" - a clear reference to the conflict in Syria.

The navy has denied the deployment is linked to events in Syria, saying it is part of a planned rotation of its ships in the Mediterranean.

In the US, a defence official has said a fifth destroyer, the USS Stout,  has been deployed to the Mediterranean and is "heading and moving east".

The guided missile destroyer is due to relieve the Mahan, but both ships might remain in place for the time being, the official said.

Other destroyers in the region - the Ramage, the Barry and the Gravely - criss-cross the Mediterranean and could launch their Tomahawk missiles toward Syria if so directed by US President Barack Obama.

As military action inched closer, Syrian President Bashar al Assad's forces removed several Scud missiles and dozens of launchers from a base north of Damascus, possibly to protect them from bombardment, opposition sources claimed.

The White House said it is on track to release an unclassified intelligence report on Syria this week, although the information is not a "slam-dunk" that will make an open and shut case for military action.

A spokesman added that what the US is contemplating in terms of its response is "very discrete and limited".

Russia and the US have taken part in an "urgent" meeting of the five permanent UN Security Council members in New York - the second such meeting in two days.

Russia is strongly against any military intervention in Syria, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov believing it would seriously destabilise the region.

Mr Lavrov has said any attack without UN Security Council approval would be a "crude violation" of international law.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has spoken to German leader Angela Merkel by phone, with the pair agreeing the Syrian conflict can be solved politically, the chancellor's spokesman said.

"The chancellor called on the Russian president to use negotiations in the UN Security Council for a quick, unanimous international reaction," he added.

Public opinion in Germany is overwhelmingly against military action in Syria, less than four weeks before an election in which Mrs Merkel hopes to win a third term.

The warship reports come after US President Barack Obama said the US had studied evidence and concluded that the Syrian government was behind the alleged attack.

Mr Obama said any strike would be to"send a shot across the bow" and give a "pretty strong signal that [Syria] better not do it again".

He added the US had not yet made a firm decision about how to respond, but that it could take action even without the backing of allies or the United Nations.

The president's national security adviser Susan Rice, intelligence director James Clapper, defence secretary Chuck Hagel and secretary of state John Kerry are to brief Congress on Syria later, according to Reuters.

Questions are said to remain about who actually controls some of Syria's chemical weapons and whether President Assad himself explicitly ordered the alleged attack.

Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta told state radio that his country condemned the Assad regime but would not join any military operation without UN Security Council authorisation.

The Syrian leader was shown meeting Yemeni politicians on state television on Thursday.

It quoted President Assad as saying the country would defend itself in the face of any aggression.

A draft resolution by the UK on authorising a strike failed to win the approval of the UN Security Council on Wednesday as Russia reiterated its objections.

China has also entered the discussion and warned the West against any military action. 

"China calls on all parties to exercise restraint and remain calm and to remain committed to the correct track of political solutions," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

British involvement in any strike will bedebated today by politicians in the House of Commons.

Meanwhile, United Nations weapons inspectors set out on Thursday morning for the Damascus suburbs in a third day of investigations.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has pleaded for all sides to hold off on any military strikes.

He said his inspection team would soon finish its investigation, leaving Syria on Friday and reporting their findings to him the following day.

Samples they have collected will go to labs around Europe for testing, AP reported.

Last week's alleged chemical attack is claimed to have killed 1,300 people.

Syria Crisis: Cameron Holds 'War Talks'

David Cameron will hold war talks at Downing Street today as military commanders draw up plans for missile strikes against Syria.

Mr Cameron will chair a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) after insisting the West must not "stand idly by" in the wake of Syria's suspected chemical attack.

In talks by telephone last night with US President Barack Obama, the two leaders agreed that "all the information available confirmed a chemical weapons attack had taken place", said a Downing Street spokesperson.

"They both agreed they were in no doubt that the Assad regime was responsible," added the spokesperson.

United Nations weapons inspectors set off on Wednesday morning to the site of the alleged attacks, a day after suspending their mission over safety concerns.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has ramped up the pressure to act on "barbarous" Syria by setting out the case for action in a national newspaper comment piece.

He maintained that "global security" was at stake and that the world "cannot allow the use of chemical weapons in the 21st century to go unchallenged". 

The NSC is expected to discuss the intelligence gathered by United Nations inspectors from their visit to Mouadamiya, the site of  last week's suspected chemical weapons attack that allegedly killed more than 1,300.

General Sir Nick Houghton, chief of the defence staff, is also expected to outline a series of options for targeted attacks against Syria at the meeting 

He will tell ministers the UK could assist US forces with cruise missile strikes launched from submarines, warships and aircraft against targets such as command and control bunkers.

Tomorrow, Parliament will be recalled for a final vote on what action should be taken.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Cameron said action must be "proportionate, have to be legal, would have to specifically be about deterring the use of chemical weapons".

It is understood the most likely military response would be a one-off or limited guided missile strikes on Syrian military targets fired from US Navy warships.

The US Navy is repositioning several vessels, including four cruise missile-carrying destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as a missile-firing submarine.

Military experts suggested a British Trafalgar class submarine might also be a potential launch platform.

Mr Cameron said any intervention in Syria would not be about the conflict itself, but preventing the use of chemical weapons by any regime.

Decisions about British involvement have not been taken, he said yesterday, adding Parliament was the "right place to set out all of the arguments".

"Obviously this is a developing situation, as I say, decisions have not been taken, but we shouldn't stand by when we see this massive use of chemical weapons and appalling levels of suffering," he said.

"But I would say this to people - there is never 100% certainty, there is never one piece or several pieces of intelligence that give you absolute certainty.

"But what we know is this regime has huge stocks of chemical weapons. We know they have used them on at least 10 occasions prior to this last widescale use.

"We know they have both the motive and the opportunity whereas the opposition does not have those things and the opposition's chance of having used chemical weapons in our view is vanishingly small."

The NSC includes Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, Home Secretary Theresa May and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg among its members.

Labour leader Ed Miliband yesterday indicated that his party would consider supporting international action.

But he added that support was "only on the basis that it was legal, that it was specifically limited to deterring the future use of chemical weapons, and that any actions contemplated had clear and achievable goals."

And Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said Britain would "set a very dangerous precedent indeed" if it stood back and failed to act.

While political momentum towards intervention mounts, the British public has yet to be persuaded.

A YouGov survey for The Sun revealed that nearly three-quarters of people oppose the deployment of British troops to Syria.

And a majority of 3-1 believe the Government should be bound by Parliament's vote tomorrow.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned MPs not to rush in their decision on whether to vote for miltary intervention in the Syria conflict.

The Most Rev Justin Welby said he feared the possible consequences of intervention saying they were "beyond description and horrible".

Syria: UK Draws Up Plans For Military Action

Britain's Armed Forces are drawing up plans for military action against Syria after the alleged toxic gas attack, which is said to have killed more than 1,300 people.

Prime Minister David Cameron will continue talks with international leaders to agree a "proportionate response" that will "deter" Bashar Assad's regime from using toxic agents on the Syrian population, Downing Street said.

Number 10 indicated that a decision could be taken before the results of a report by UN weapons inspectors into the attack, which doctors say killed hundreds, produced but insisted any response would adhere to international law.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has already said the West could act on Syria even without full UN Security Council backing.    

Mr Hague declined to rule out action, such as targeted air strikes, being launched within days.

A reported build-up of military aircraft on British base RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus suggested that planning had reached a developed stage.

Any intervention in Syria would be "in accordance with international law and will be based on legal advice to the National Security Council and to the Cabinet", Mr Hague earlier stressed.

Mr Cameron returned early from a family holiday to prepare for Wednesday's National Security Council (NSC) meeting on a possible intervention in Syria.

Earlier US Secretary of State John Kerry said the alleged use of chemical weapons was "undeniable", and that the Obama administration would hold Damascus accountable for the "moral obscenity".

"Make no mistake, President Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world's most heinous weapon against the world's most vulnerable people," Mr Kerry said.

The US State Department has also postponed a meeting with Russian diplomats on Syria that was scheduled for this week because of America's ongoing review into alleged use of chemical weapons.

Russia - the Damascus regime's most powerful ally - said America's decision to postpone the meeting on the crisis at The Hague was a "serious disappointment" and warned that any use of force against Syria would have "catastrophic consequences".

"We call on our American colleagues and all members of the international community to show prudence, strict observance of international law, and above all, the fundamental principles of the UN Charter," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Russia's Emergencies Ministry has confirmed to Sky News that it is sending a plane to Syria today to take humanitarian aid in and expects to bring around 150 Russian citizens out.

Mr Assad denies using the chemical weapons and Moscow - which supplies arms to Syria - has backed claims that video footage of victims could be opposition propaganda.

UN weapons experts are carrying out a second day of investigations into the alleged attack in Damascus, after the inspectors braved sniper fire on Monday.

Despite this, the UN team collected some "valuable" biological and environmental samples but refused to accept other samples of blood and urine that had already been taken by medical workers.

Back in the UK, MPs are due back from their summer break next Monday but Labour and a growing number of backbench MPs from all parties - including many Tories - are demanding a chance to debate the situation more quickly.

Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander, told Sky News that MPs must be given a vote before any British military action in Syria.

But Mr Alexander said he hopes other options besides military intervention are being being considered by the UK, US and other countries.

"I don't rule out supporting the Government [on intervention], but I think it's incumbent on the Government to make its case, to produce the evidence, to answer questions and to allow Parliament to have its say," he said.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Middle East envoy, said it was vital to "take sides" against the Assad regime and in other regional disputes.

Mr Blair, who took the decision for British troops to join the US-led action in Iraq, wrote in the Times: "I know as one of the architects of policy after 9/11 the controversy, anguish and cost of the decisions taken.

"They have to be defeated. We should defeat them, however long it takes because otherwise they will not disappear. They will grow stronger until, at a later time, there will be another crossroads and this time there will be no choice."

Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said it was "inconceivable" to act before the UN inspectors had completed their work.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that North Korea tried to export gas masks to Syria but they were seized in Turkey along with arms and ammunitions, according to Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun.

After a tip-off from the US, Turkish officials in April seized 1,400 rifles and pistols and some 30,000 bullets as well as gas masks apparently for chemical protection, said the newspaper, which is known for its North Korea coverage.

Syria: Iran Warns US Not To Cross 'Red Line'

Iran has warned the US not to cross the "red line" on Syria, saying it would have "severe consequences", according to the Fars news agency.

The warning comes after Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barack Obama said they are "gravely concerned" about signs that an alleged chemical weapons attack took place in Syria.

The two leaders spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper by telephone last night as calls increased for UN investigators - who are already in the country - to be allowed access to the site of the alleged attack.

The war of words has intensified in recent days, as Iran shows its support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

"America knows the limitation of the red line of the Syrian front and any crossing of Syria's red line will have severe consequences for the White House," said Masoud Jazayeri, the deputy chief of staff of Iran's armed forces.

Mr Jazayeri was reacting to statements made by Western officials regarding the possibility of military intervention in Syria, according to Fars.

Earlier, Iranian Press TV reported that Damascus had told Tehran it would allow inspectors to visit the site of the alleged chemical attack.

A Downing Street spokesperson stressed that any significant use of chemical weapons would merit a "serious response".

The spokesperson added: "The fact that President Assad has failed to cooperate with the UN suggests that the regime has something to hide.

"They reiterated that significant use of chemical weapons would merit a serious response from the international community and both have tasked officials to examine all the options.

"They agreed that it is vital that the world upholds the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons and deters further outrages."

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the American military is ready to exercise "options" on Syria should force be called for, but he declined to say what that action might be.

He is under mounting pressure to act over the alleged use of chemical weapons, which humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders said had killed 355 people due to "neurotoxic" symptoms.

The group says it has treated more than 3,500 people showing symptoms of exposure to a "neurotoxic" agent.

Christopher Stokes from the charity told Sky News: "“The situation (on the ground in Syria) is quite confusing.

"We've spent the last three to four days in contact with Syrian doctors that we've been working with for six months in and around Damascus to try and piece together what happened last Wednesday.

"Basically what they’ve reported to us are consistent signs of the same symptoms across a large number of patients that would indicate a large scale exposure to a neurotoxic agent."

The group said victims flooded three Syrian hospitals after a "chemical massacre" on Wednesday.

Rebel groups have claimed the attack was carried out by Assad's forces and that more than 1,000 people had died. The Syrian regime has denied the allegations.

Hague: Syria Massacre 'Was A Chemical Attack'

Foreign Secretary William Hague has said for the first time that the "atrocity" in Syria "was a chemical attack" carried out by Assad forces.

Mr Hague said that the chances of the attack being a conspiracy by opposition forces was "vanishingly small" and that the only "plausible explanation" for the mass deaths was an attack by the regime.

He said it was essential to get UN inspectors already in the country to the site outside Damascus and that "time was of the essence".

If inspectors were not allowed in, the evidence, he said, would deteriorate.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad have been carrying out air strikes on the area, which could already have considerably damaged any proof of the use of nerve gas.

And Mr Hague warned the Assad regime that if they did not comply with the UN request to carry out inspections at the scene of the attack then Britain would be prepared to go back to the UN Security Council for a mandate "for the world to speak more forcefully about this".

He stressed that inspectors were just 20 minutes away from the site where 1,300, including scores of children, are said to have perished on Tuesday.

Mr Hague said: "The only possible explanation of what we have been able to see is that it was a chemical attack and clearly many, many hundreds of people have been killed, some of the estimates are well over 1,000.

"There is no other plausible explanation for casualties so intense in such a small area on this scale.

"I know some people in the world would like to say this is some kind of conspiracy brought about by the opposition in Syria - I think the chances of that are vanishingly small.

"So we do believe this is a chemical attack by the Assad regime on a large scale but we would like the United Nations to be able to assess that so those who don't believe that, those who doubt that, the evidence can be gathered.

"But that is certainly our opinion."

He said it "seems the Assad regime has something to hide" and questioned why it had refused to allow the UN inspectors, who are staying in a hotel in Damascus, to investigate.

Footage and images released by the opposition has showed scores of children lying dead, some seemingly gassed as they slept in their beds.

Other pictures appear to show adults foaming at the mouths from the effects of gas and row upon row of corpses, some being loaded into vans.

The images, Mr Hague said, were "something that a humane or civilised world cannot ignore".

UN chemical weapons inspectors have been in the country since Sunday on a mission to investigate sites where previous gas attacks are alleged to have been carried out.

Activists said on Friday they were smuggling body tissue samples from victims to the UN inspectors in their hotel but that it had been a struggle because they were heavily guarded by government forces.

One activist, Abu Nidal, said: "The UN team spoke with us and since then we prepared samples of hair, skin and blood and smuggled them back to Damascus with trusted couriers."

In his first comments since the footage of the attacks emerged, US President Barack Obama said it was a "big event of grave concern" and that " this is something that is going to require America's attention".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the use of chemical weapons would constitute "a crime against humanity".

Significantly, Syria's key ally Russia has joined international calls for the inspectors to be given access to the site of the alleged massacre.