United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that he believes there will be “an overwhelming report” from UN inspectors that chemical weapons were used in an attack in Syria on August 21, but he did not say who was responsible.
The Syrian Government and rebels blame each other for the attack in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta. The Obama administration, which says 1,429 people were killed, has said it has evidence that clearly indicates the Syrian Government was behind the attack. But Russia, a key ally of Syria, has said that it is not convinced by the US evidence.
The UN inspectors have a mandate to determine whether chemical weapons were used and if so, which agent not to establish who was responsible. But two UN diplomats said the report could point to the perpetrators, saying that the inspectors collected many samples from the attack and also interviewed doctors and witnesses.
Ban had yesterday spoke shortly before the chief chemical weapons inspector, Ake Sellstrom, said that he would deliver his report to the Secretary General in New York this week-end.
Ban also said President Bashar Assad’s regime “has committed many crimes against humanity’’.
“Therefore, I’m sure that there will be surely the process of accountability when everything is over,” he said.
Asked whether Ban’s conclusion was in response to the report, UN associate spokesman Farhan Haq said that as far as he knows the report hadn’t been completed “so it’s not possible for any of us to have seen the report at this present moment’’.
But he added that Ban “has been in touch with different people including the experts’’.
The Secretary General spoke at the Women’s International Forum. He thought his speech and response to questions were not being broadcast, but they were shown on UN television.