The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Syria gas attack claims utter nonsense: Putin

Syrians undergo security checks as they cross the Masnaa border post between Syria and Lebanon on Saturday. — AFP

Cairo, August 31
The US today moved closer to military intervention in Syria with President Barack Obama saying he was considering a "limited, narrow" strike without involving ground forces, even as Russia dismissed claims about the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime as "utter nonsense".

Russian President Vladimir Putin today challenged the US to present to the UN evidence that President Bashar al-Assad's regime was responsible for chemical weapon attacks. Speaking to journalists in Vladivostok, Putin said it was ridiculous to suggest the Assad regime was to blame for the August 21 attack.

"Syrian government troops are on the offensive... In these conditions, to give a trump card to those who are calling for a military intervention is utter nonsense," he said. "So I'm convinced that is nothing more than a provocation by those who want to drag other countries into the Syrian conflict."

Putin described the US failure to present evidence as "simply disrespectful". He said, "If there is evidence it should be shown. If it is not shown, then there isn't any." Russia, a key ally of Syria, has warned "any unilateral military action bypassing the UN Security Council" would be a "direct violation of international law". China and Russia have vetoed two previous draft resolutions on Syria.

Media reports quoting an official said that Syria expects a military attack "at any moment" and is ready to retaliate.

Meanwhile, UN weapons inspectors, led by Ake Sellstrom, travelled to Lebanon today after visiting the site of the alleged attack in Syria and were expected to brief Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Ban has said he will present the findings of the experts to the UNSC, but he wants to wait until a final report is completed. It could take as long as a week, officials said.

Emerging from a situation room meeting headed by Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed that the US would not seek approval of the UN Security Council for an attack because of the opposition from Russia to the use of military force. "Because of the guaranteed Russian obstructionism of any action through the UN Security Council, UN cannot galvanise the world to act as it should," he said.

US leaders indicated that they had adequate information about the use of chemical weapons and were determined to act. "I have said before, and I meant what I said, that the world has an obligation to make sure that we maintain the norm against the use of chemical weapons," Obama said.

Kerry laid out a raft of what Washington said was a "high confidence" intelligence assessment about the attack.

The main findings of the released unclassified summary stated that the attack by the Assad regime killed 1,429 people, including 426 children, and Syrian military chemical weapons personnel were operating in the area three days before the incident. Communications were intercepted involving a senior Damascus official who "confirmed chemical weapons were used", the summary said — PTI

US won’t seek UN approval

US Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed the US would not seek approval of the UN Security Council for an attack due to Russian opposition to the use of military force

Media reports quoting an official said Syria expects a military attack "at any moment" and is ready to retaliate

UN weapons inspectors left Syria after visiting the site of the alleged attack and are expected to brief Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

India issues travel warning

Dozens of UN staff have left Syria and several countries have asked citizens to stay away from neighbouring Lebanon. India has advised its citizens to leave Syria and not to travel to the Arab nation. MEA spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said all Indians there were safe

US draws the line: World can’t let Assad get away

US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks about the situation in Syria in Washington DC. — AFP

Washington, August 31
The United States made clear on Friday that it would punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the "brutal and flagrant" chemical weapons attack that it says killed more than 1,400 people in Damascus last week.

"We cannot accept a world where women and children and innocent civilians are gassed on a terrible scale," President Barack Obama told reporters at the White House.

He said the United States was still in the planning process for a "limited, narrow" military response that would not involve "boots on the ground" or be open-ended. He set no timetable for action.

Secretary of State John Kerry said it was essential not to let Syria get away with the attack, partly as a sign to those who might consider using chemical weapons in the future.

"History would judge us all extraordinarily harshly if we turned a blind eye to a dictator's wanton use of weapons of mass destruction," Kerry said in a televised statement.

Syria's foreign ministry repeated the government's denial that it had used chemical weapons and said Kerry's accusations were a "desperate attempt" to justify a military strike. "What he said was lies," the ministry said of Kerry's statement.

With France on Friday affirming its support for a military response to punish Assad's government, the statements from Obama and Kerry appeared to harden the resolve for a US attack despite Thursday's British parliamentary "no" vote that left Washington without one of its closest allies.

The timing of the attack, most likely with cruise missiles from US Navy destroyers already stationed in the eastern Mediterranean, was uncertain, but it was unlikely to come before U.N. weapons experts leave Syria on Saturday.

Kerry said that "if a thug and a murderer like Bashar al-Assad can gas thousands of his own people with impunity," it would set a bad example for others, such as Iran, Hezbollah and North Korea.

Obama said chemical weapons attacks such as last week's threatened US national security interests as well as US allies such as Israel, Turkey and Jordan. "So, I have said before, and I meant what I said, that the world has an obligation to make sure that we maintain the norm against the use of chemical weapons," he said.

Kerry laid out a raft of evidence he said showed Assad's forces were behind the attack, and the US government released an unclassified intelligence report at the same time including many of the details. The report said the August 21 attack killed 1,429 Syrian civilians, including 426 children.

The intelligence included an intercepted communication by a senior official intimately familiar with the attack as well as other intelligence from people's accounts and intercepted messages, the four-page report said.

"Any action that he (Obama) might decide to take will be (a) limited and tailored response to ensure that a despot's brutal and flagrant use of chemical weapons is held accountable," Kerry said.

Assad's government has accused rebels of perpetrating the attacks in order to provoke intervention.

Syrian state television, which did not carry Kerry's speech live, reported that Kerry said the "first and last" aim of any action the Obama administration will carry out in the Middle East was to "guarantee the security of Israel."

Kerry said the UN inspectors' report would only confirm that chemical weapons were used and made clear it would not change much for Washington since "guaranteed Russian obstructionism" would make it impossible for the UN to galvanise world action. "The primary question is really no longer, what do we know? The question is, what are we - we collectively - what are we in the world going to do about it?" Kerry said. — Reuters

First papal ‘selfie’ goes viral on social media

Pope Francis

Vatican City, August 31
Pope Francis has broken protocol once again, appearing with a puzzled look on his face in a “selfie” photo taken with a group of teenagers visiting the Vatican.

The picture appeared on the Facebook page of one of the youngsters, who used it as his profile picture, and was going viral on social media today. The picture comes in the same week that the Oxford English Dictionary included the word “selfie” to denote a self-taken photograph on a smartphone.

The young believers were part of a church group from northern Italy who met with the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics on Wednesday and were seen going up to him afterwards to take their photo. “There is no marketing behind these actions,” said Beppe Severgnini, columnist for the Corriere della Sera daily. — Reuters

‘Deputy pope’ named

Pope Francis on Saturday made the most significant appointment of his pontificate so far, naming a veteran diplomat as his secretary of state, Vatican prime minister and chief aide — a role often called the "deputy pope".

UN rights panel hits out at Sri Lanka

Colombo, August 31
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay hit out against the Sri Lanka government on Saturday, saying that four years after the end of civil war people were still suffering amid signs the country was headed in an authoritarian direction.

“It is important everyone realise that although the fighting is over, the suffering is not,” Pillay told a news conference at the end of a controversial fact-finding mission to assess Sri Lanka’s progress after the 26-year war between the government and separatist Tamils. “I’m deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction.” Pillay visited the former northern war zones in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and the eastern district of Trincomalee, and met leaders in the capital of Colombo. The visit has sparked demonstrations for and against her mission. — Reuters

15 killed, 26 injured in Shanghai ammonia leak

Shanghai, August 31
A liquid ammonia leak from a refrigeration unit at a cold storage facility in Shanghai on Saturday killed 15 people and injured 26 others, local authorities said.

The leak occurred at 10.50 am local time at Shanghai Weng's Cold Storage Industrial Co Ltd, in Baoshan district of eastern Shanghai, Shanghai municipal government said on its official Sina Weibo account. Six of those injured were in a critical condition, the government said. China, world's second largest economy, has a poor record on workplace safety. In June, 120 persons died and 77 were injured when a fire engulfed a chicken processing plant in northeastern Jilin province. Many of China's deadly industrial accidents happen in the huge coal mining industry, in which more than 1,300 people died last year from explosions, mine collapses and floods. — Reuters

26/11 probe: Pak judicial panel coming next week

Islamabad/Lahore, August 31
An eight-member Pakistani judicial commission will visit India from September 7 to cross-examine witnesses of the Mumbai terror attacks in order to take forward the prosecution of seven suspects.

Prosecutors on Saturday informed an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad conducting the trial of the seven suspects that an Indian Government letter dated August 23 had stated that the Pakistani judicial commission could visit Mumbai on September 5-6.

Riaz Akram Cheema, part of the team defending the accused, told PTI that the commission cannot travel on the dates given by Indian government as there is no flight to India during this period. “The commission will leave on September 7 for Delhi and it will need at least four days to cross-examine the four witnesses (in Mumbai),” Mr. Cheema said.

The letter mentioned that Mumbai’s Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate PY Ladekar will coordinate with the Pakistani panel for the cross-examination of the witnesses. The witnesses are the magistrate who recorded Lashkar member Ajmal Kasab’s confessional statement, the chief investigating officer and two doctors who conducted the autopsy of the terrorists who carried out the Mumbai attacks in November 2008.

This will be the commission’s second visit to India. A report submitted by the panel after its first visit in March 2012 was rejected by an anti-terrorism court as the commission’s members were not allowed to cross-examine witnesses. PTI