Damascus In US Weighs Up Appetite For War

By Amanda Walker, US Correspondent

Damascus, Maryland, has a population of 15,000. It's 40 miles away from the Syria lobbying frenzy on Capitol Hill. The main focus here are preparations for this weekend's community fair.

The Red Rooster diner has been run by the Miller family for 35 years. Owner Pat Miller says among her fellow Damascans, there's little appetite for war.

"We've got lots on our plate right now. I'm all for helping everybody but it scares me."

Her daughter-in-law Margo shares her scepticism: "I cant think how any person in history could even think to do such an act but if strike aren't we doing the same act - do two wrongs make a right?"

On the whole Americans are lukewarm to the idea of Syrian intervention. The latest polls say around 60% of people are against it.

As one Red Rooster customer puts it: "Who's the enemy? We don't know - are they good guys or bad guys? Which one's which? Too much unknown. No support from the UN. Absolutely not."

Polls show around 60% of Americans are against intervention

The repeated message from the politicians to the people is that this isn't just about some conflict far away - it could have direct consequences for the US.

So has the American public bought into the idea that national security is being threatened?

A customer at the local hardware store suggests the answer is yes: "I do think its a direct threat I mean - its a global economy its not just one country and another country.

"If we don't stand up and say 'you can't do this' the next thing you know they're going to hit Israel or somebody else then they're going to launch nuclear weapons and we're going to be in trouble."

Shop worker Scott Zielinski thinks differently: "Are we being threatened? No. But it's a 50-50, if they get hit we should help out a little bit but we don't know if it's a set up to get us to fight the war. I haven't heard any facts."

Like so many towns across America, Damascus knows the pain war can bring. A plaque at the town hall honours the fallen of past conflicts. Iraq in particular weighs heavy on people's minds.

Connor Lawlor, who is steadfast about joining the Army, and his mum Amanda

Sixteen-year-old Connor Lawlor's ambition is to join the US army, but even he's not sold on striking Syria: "Regardless of me going into the army I don't think we should be in Syria militarily.

"But I'm joining the army and I'm expecting conflict because we're always in a conflict somewhere in the world so it doesn't concern - as long as we're on the right side and I can't see a right side in Syria right now."

His mum Amanda says she's glad that Congress is debating the issue: "It seems like our leaders are trying really hard to make the right decision and not get involved if its not necessary so I'm glad that they're waiting right now because it does seem like a very difficult situation."

Whether people are for or against military action, they share the belief that their opinions hold little sway. Another foreign conflict is looming and there's very little this Damascus can do about it.

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John Kerry To Shore Up Support Over Syria

Misery Of Syrians Driven From Home

Updated: 9:01pm UK, Friday 06 September 2013

I have passed through the border area between Turkey and Syria dozens of times in the last year or so, but I have never seen a vehicle exodus like the one taking place now.

Hundreds of cars stacked up at customs all laden with people and possessions. These are the people who have survived for two and a half years, who have used up all their savings to stay in their country but have concluded now that they have to leave.

Not one Syrian is untouched by this war anymore.

In camps along Syria's borders and inside neighbouring countries, millions are living in various levels of misery.

All the camps are miserable; some are bigger and better than others, some are like squatter camps. Refugees have given up hope and gone, the internally displaced will likely soon follow, if they can.

In the displaced peoples' camp near the Turkish city of Killis, but still just inside Syria, they are just about surviving.

There is little choice for entire families who have moved from village to village for years now, seeking sanctuary from aerial bombardments and shelling. They have tried to escape the war, but it always catches up.

Haj Nadeen is 50 and has 12 children, two wives, a sister and sister-in-law all living in a single tent in the camp.

"A barrel bomb exploded in front of my house and destroyed it," he told me over a cup of tea surrounded by the whole family.

"Assad wants to destroy us and wants to move us out of our houses. He will use gas and he will use barrel bombs. If the Americans attack there will be retaliation but they have to do it."

The continual air assaults on villages are what force most people to leave; usually after a family member is severely hurt.

In a tent, the wind whipping up a sandstorm inside, little Ali Shaobu, showed me raking scars on his leg and the patches on his bottom where Turkish doctors took flesh and skin to rebuild him.

He was buying bread when a jet struck shattering that leg. Doctors said they had never not amputated on such an extensive injury but were prepared to try to save it as he was so young.

After a series of operations it was successful. But he and his family cannot return home as the same jet destroyed their house. They have been in the tent for a year.

"We can't go home and we can't rebuild until this is over," his mother, Malar Al Hassan, told me.

"We can only trust in God."

A quarter of Syria's population is on the move. International donations are half that is needed to for the aid agencies to help them and of course the crisis is growing.

Currently the world's worst humanitarian crisis, the Syria problem has rumbled on with barely a single peace solution even remotely acceptable to the rebels or the government being tabled.

But that isn't actually the point here because this is about help for those who really need it. They aren't getting enough and they can't do anything to help themselves any more.

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Berezovsky Estate: Daughter Applies To Court

One of the daughters of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky has denied that her father was millions of pounds in debt when he died.

Ekaterina Berezovskaya has gone to the High Court asking to be allowed to become an executor of his estate.

Her plea comes amid questions as to whether or not there is any money in the estate to distribute.

Judge Mr Justice Morgan said reports from receivers who had analysed Mr Berezovsky's financial affairs suggested there was not, and that he had left debts that could amount to more than £300m.

"The dispute is whether the estate is solvent or insolvent," said the judge. "Information from receivers points to insolvency.

Berezovsky had earlier lost a court battle against Roman Abramovitch

"The receivers have told me a great deal about what they have uncovered."

The judge said he had seen detail of alleged debts and said the level of insolvency could be as high as £309m.

However, Ms Berezovskaya, questioned the receivers' analysis.

Anthony Trace QC, for Ms Berezovskaya, said the judge was not in a position to decide whether Mr Berezovsky's estate was insolvent.

He said there were a "number of things" receivers had not done and questioned the adequacy of their investigation.

Mr Trace said Ms Berezovskaya had been appointed executor by her father who had "died in tragic and mysterious circumstances".

The judge is being asked to decide whether Ms Berezovskaya should be made a temporary administrator of her father's estate pending further litigation.

Mr Berezovsky, 67, was found dead at his home in Ascot, Berkshire in March.

He was reportedly found on a bathroom floor with a ligature around his neck.

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G20 Summit: Syria Tensions Set To Dominate

US Draft Resolution On Syria

Updated: 10:53pm UK, Wednesday 04 September 2013

The full text of the US draft resolution on action in Syria:

JOINT RESOLUTION

To authorize the limited and tailored use of the United States Armed Forces against Syria.

Whereas Syria is in material breach of the laws of war by having employed chemical weapons against its civilian population;

Whereas the abuses of the regime of Bashar al-Assad have included the brutal repression and war upon its own civilian population, resulting in more than 100,000 people killed in the past two years, and more than 2 million internally displaced people and Syrian refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq, creating an unprecedented regional crisis and instability;

Whereas the Assad regime has the largest chemical weapons programs in the region and has demonstrated its capability and willingness to repeatedly use weapons of mass destruction against its own people, including the August 21, 2013 attack in the suburbs of Damascus in which the Assad regime murdered over 1,000 innocent people, including hundreds of children;

Whereas there is clear and compelling evidence of the direct involvement of Assad regime forces and senior officials in the planning, execution, and after-action attempts to cover-up the August 21 attack, and hide or destroy evidence of such attack;

Whereas the Arab League has declared with regards to the August 21 incident to hold the "Syrian regime responsible for this heinous crime";

Whereas the United Nations Security Council, in Resolution 1540 (2004) affirmed that the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons constitutes a threat to international peace and security;

Whereas in the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, Congress found that Syria's acquisition of weapons of mass destruction threatens the security of the Middle East and the national security interests of the United States;

Whereas the actions and conduct of the Assad regime are in direct contravention of Syria's legal obligations under the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions, and the Geneva Protocol to the Hague Convention on the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, and also violates standards set forth in the Chemical Weapons Convention;

Whereas Syria's use of weapons of mass destruction and its conduct and actions constitute a grave threat to regional stability, world peace, and the national security interests of the United States and its allies and partners;

Whereas the objectives of the United States use of military force in connection with this authorization are to respond to the use, and deter and degrade the potential future use of weapons of mass destruction by the Syrian government;

Whereas the conflict in Syria will only be resolved through a negotiated political settlement, and Congress calls on all parties to the conflict in Syria to participate urgently and constructively in the Geneva process; and

Whereas the President has authority under the Constitution to use force in order to defend the national security interests of the United States:

Now, therefore, be it,

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This joint resolution may be cited as the "Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against the Government of Syria to Respond to Use of Chemical Weapons".

SECTION 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

(a) AUTHORIZATION-The President is authorized, subject to subsection (b), to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in a limited and tailored manner against legitimate military targets in Syria, only to: (1) respond to the use of weapons of mass destruction by the Syrian government in the conflict in Syria; (2) deter Syria's use of such weapons in order to protect the national security interests of the United States and to protect our allies and partners against the use of such weapons; and (3) degrade Syria's capacity to use such weapons in the future.

(b) REQUIREMENT FOR DETERMINATION THAT USE OF MILITARY FORCE IS

NECESSARY- Before exercising the authority granted in subsection (a), the President shall make available to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate his determination that-

(1) the United States has used all appropriate diplomatic and other peaceful means to prevent the deployment and use of weapons of mass destruction by Syria;

(2) the Syrian government has conducted one or more significant chemical weapons attacks;

(3) the use of military force is necessary to respond to the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government;

(4) it is in the core national security interest of the United States to use such military force;

(5) the United States has a military plan to achieve the specific goals of responding to the use of weapons of mass destruction by the Syrian government in the conflict in Syria, to deter Syria's use of such weapons in order to protect the national security interests of the United States and to protect our allies and partners against the use of such weapons, and to degrade Syria's capacity to use such weapons in the future; and

(6) the use of military force is consistent with and furthers the goals of the United States strategy toward Syria, including achieving a negotiated political settlement to the conflict.

(c) WAR POWERS RESOLUTION REQUIREMENTS-

(1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION- Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, 50 U.S.C. § 1541, et seq., the Congress declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section

5(b) of the War Powers Resolution, within the limits of the authorization established under this Section.

(2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS- Nothing in this resolution supersedes any requirement of the War Powers Resolution.

SECTION 3. LIMITATION. The authority granted in section 2 does not authorize the use of the United States Armed Forces on the ground in Syria for the purpose of combat operations.

SECTION 4. TERMINATION OF THE AUTHORIZATION FOR THE USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

The authorization in section 2(a) shall terminate 60 days after the date of the enactment of this joint resolution, except that the President may extend, for a single period of 30 days, such authorization if -

(1) the President determines and certifies to Congress, not later than 5 days before the date of termination of the initial authorization, that the extension is necessary to fulfill the purposes of this resolution as defined by Section 2(a) due to extraordinary circumstances and for ongoing and impending military operations against Syria under section 2(a); and

(2) Congress does not enact into law, before the extension of authorization, a joint resolution disapproving the extension of the authorization for the additional 30 day period; provided that any such joint resolution shall be considered under the expedited procedures otherwise provided for concurrent resolutions of disapproval contained in section 7 of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1546).

SECTION 5. SYRIA STRATEGY.

Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this resolution, the President shall consult with Congress and submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives an integrated United States Government strategy for achieving a negotiated political settlement to the conflict in Syria, including a comprehensive review of current and planned U.S. diplomatic, political, economic, and military policy towards Syria, including: (1) the provision of all forms of assistance to the Syrian Supreme Military Council and other Syrian entities opposed to the government of Bashar Al-Assad that have been properly and fully vetted and share common values and interests with the United States; (2) the provision of all forms of assistance to the Syrian political opposition, including the Syrian Opposition Coalition; (3) efforts to isolate extremist and terrorist groups in Syria to prevent their influence on the future transitional and permanent Syrian governments; (4) coordination with allies and partners; and (5) efforts to limit support from the Government of Iran and others for the Syrian regime.

SECTION 6. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION AND REPORTING.

(a) Notification and Provision of Information. Upon his determination to use the authority set forth in section 2 of this Act, the President shall notify Congress, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, of the use of such authority and shall keep Congress fully and currently informed of the use of such authority.

(b) Reports. No fewer than 10 days after the initiation of military operations under the authority provided by Section 2, and every 20 days thereafter until the completion of military operations, the President shall submit to the Congress, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a report on the status of such operations, including progress achieved toward the objectives specified in Section 2(a), the financial costs of operations to date, and an assessment of the impact of the operations on the Syrian regime's chemical weapons capabilities and intentions.

SECTION 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. The authority set forth in Section 2 of this resolution shall not constitute an authorization for the use of force or a declaration of war except to the extent that it authorizes military action under the conditions, for the specific purposes, and for the limited period of time set forth in this resolution.

SECTION 5. SYRIA STRATEGY.

Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this resolution, the President shall consult with Congress and submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives an integrated United States Government strategy for achieving a negotiated political settlement to the conflict in Syria, including a comprehensive review of current and planned U.S. diplomatic, political, economic, and military policy towards Syria, including: (1) the provision of all forms of assistance to the Syrian Supreme Military Council and other Syrian entities opposed to the government of Bashar Al-Assad that have been properly and fully vetted and share common values and interests with the United States; (2) the provision of all forms of assistance to the Syrian political opposition, including the Syrian Opposition Coalition; (3) efforts to isolate extremist and terrorist groups in Syria to prevent their influence on the future transitional and permanent Syrian governments; (4) coordination with allies and partners; and (5) efforts to limit support from the Government of Iran and others for the Syrian regime.

SECTION 6. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION AND REPORTING.

(a) Notification and Provision of Information. Upon his determination to use the authority set forth in section 2 of this Act, the President shall notify Congress, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, of the use of such authority and shall keep Congress fully and currently informed of the use of such authority.

(b) Reports. No fewer than 10 days after the initiation of military operations under the authority provided by Section 2, and every 20 days thereafter until the completion of military operations, the President shall submit to the Congress, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a report on the status of such operations, including progress achieved toward the objectives specified in Section 2(a), the financial costs of operations to date, and an assessment of the impact of the operations on the Syrian regime's chemical weapons capabilities and intentions.

SECTION 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. The authority set forth in Section 2 of this resolution shall not constitute an authorization for the use of force or a declaration of war except to the extent that it authorizes military action under the conditions, for the specific purposes, and for the limited period of time set forth in this resolution.

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Syria Crisis: France To Debate Military Action

Syria Writes To French MPs Debating Action

Updated: 10:42pm UK, Tuesday 03 September 2013

By Jason Farrell, Sky Reporter, in Paris

The Syrian parliament has urged its French counterparts not to support military action in two letters obtained by Sky News.

The letters addressed to the President of the French Senate and the President of the National Assembly warn of the "irreversible consequences" of war and invites delegates to travel to Damascus to judge the situation for themselves.

"We write to you with great emphasis, whilst you are in the process of considering a military attack against Syria," said the letter to the National Assembly, signed by Mohammad Jihad al Lahham, the speaker of Syria's parliament.

"We write to you as parliamentary colleagues, and as representatives of our people; but most importantly we write to you as fathers, mothers and family members, in a society no different to yours: we write to you as human beings and we ask you 'if you bomb us, will we bleed'?"

"Despite our shared humanity, we are divided between our separate doubts. Similar doubts have, in the past been the spark behind terrible conflicts, especially as we approach the 100th anniversary since the start of the First World War in 1914.

"We urge you to contact us by means of civil dialogue, and not a dialogue of blood and fire."

The letter to the French Senate President urged the country's politicians not to "plunge our two secular nations into a war" which it said would destabilise not only the region but the rest of the world.

Similar letters were sent to British MPs ahead of the House of Commons vote on taking action to punish Syria over the alleged use of chemical weapons in an attack in Damascus.

There are no plans for politicians to vote after the two debates in France, but many of them are expected to call for a ballot.

Like Washington, Paris has been building a case for intervention and of all the Western leaders French President Francois Hollande has appeared the most committed to punishing President Bashar al Assad over the alleged attack, which Mr Hollande said killed more than 200 people.

However, he has promised he will not go it alone if the US Congress opposes an armed offensive.

At a news conference after a meeting with German President Joachim Gauck, Mr Hollande said: "Europe must unite on this dossier and it will, each with its own responsibility.

"France will accept its role," he added. "There will be a meeting of foreign ministers soon."

But as France's full political spectrum gathers to question whether intervention is the right course of action, it will be argued that if French MPs do not get to vote, the US congress will effectively decide for them.

Political commentator Agnes Poirier told Sky News: "Hollande is in a difficult position, Cameron set off a chain reaction when he gave parliament the vote.

"President Obama has now gone to Congress and French politicians are saying why can't we vote on this too."

White House administration officials have been working to convince Congressmen of the need for intervention with Mr Obama meeting officials and US Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel giving evidence to a Senate committee.

The French president said his determination to act was reinforced after reading an interview Mr Assad gave to French newspaper Le Figaro in which he denied that his forces had used chemical weapons and threatened "negative repercussions" against France if it intervened.

"On reading this, I became even more determined," Mr Hollande said.

"Those who had doubts about Bashar al Assad's intentions can no longer be in doubt. He speaks of 'liquidating' all those who do not agree with him."

Back in 2003 France had strongly criticised American intervention in Iraq and when it came to Libya France insisted on UN backing.

Now they are becoming a lone voice of support in Europe - even though recent polls show 64% of the population oppose involvement.

In Cafe Madeleine in central Paris there were mixed views. Two people used the same analogy to argue opposing opinions.

Waiter Sasha Kristc said: "If your next door neighbours are having a row you don't go knocking on the door, it's not your business."

But one of his clientele, Faycal El Darwiche, who runs a business between Paris and Lebanon, said: "If your next door neighbour is abusing his children, it's your responsibility to intervene."

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Ariel Castro Found Dead In Prison Cell

Ariel Castro, who held three women captive for a decade, has been found dead inside his prison cell, according to US officials.

The 53-year-old was found hanging in his cell at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio.

Prison medical staff performed CPR on him before he was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead 90 minutes later.

Castro was being held in solitary confinement.

His three victims disappeared between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20-years-old.

They escaped on May 6, when one of the women broke open a door and alerted neighbours.

The former school bus driver was arrested that evening.

He was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years after pleading guilty to 937 counts including kidnap and rape.

More follows...

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Syria: Assad 'Planned Gas Attack Last Summer'

By Nick Martin, Sky Correspondent

A former high-ranking Syrian diplomat who defected saying his conscience could not allow him to continue representing the regime has emerged from hiding to give his first interview to Sky News.

Khaled al Ayoubi was President Bashar al Assad's most senior figure in Britain and was at the heart of discussions between Britain and Syria over its use of chemical weapons. 

After resigning as the charge d'affaire at the Syrian embassy in July 2012, Mr al Ayoubi said he had been granted protection by the UK's Foreign Office in return for information about the Syrian regime.

Since then he said he received death threats from members of Mr Assad's secret intelligence service and had been forced to live at a secret location.

Mr al-Ayoubi believes Assad was planning a chemical attack last summer

Speaking exclusively to Sky News he said: "When I decided to step down from my post I received messages from people within the Syrian government. They said if I was seen walking down the street in London I would be killed."

The Foreign Office provided him and his wife and two children with a safe house outside London, he said.

Mr al Ayoubi, an ethnic Kurd who joined the Syrian diplomatic service in 2001, now intends to apply for political asylum in the UK on the grounds he could face persecution if he was to return to his home country.

Mr al Ayoubi revealed how the Foreign Office knew last year of the existence of chemical weapons in Syria and that the regime assured authorities they would not be used against civilians.

He said he believed President Assad was planning a chemical attack last summer but a crucial intervention by the British government may have prevented it.

The attack in Zamalka was estimated to have killed hundreds of people

"During the last two weeks of July 2012 there was information delivered to the British government about the preparation done by the regime to start using chemical weapons against the militants and the opposition surrounding Damascus.

"They called me and they asked me to deliver a message to Syria saying that they had information that they have the intention and the will to use chemical weapons against the people and that this was not acceptable.

"I delivered this message to Syria and they sent me an answer saying these chemical weapons are secured, stored and monitored by Syrian army and for use only in the case of aggression from outside the country.

"I think because there was condemnation by many countries at the time the Syrian government stopped their intention and didn't launch any chemical attack against the opposition.

Hundreds of children were injured in the strike

"Syria has never used chemical weapons on any country even when it has been threatened. Syria has chemical weapons for one use only - to target and kill its own civilians."

A source in the Foreign Office did not dispute Mr al Ayoubi's claims but added that if Syria had chemical weapons locked away there was "pretty solid" evidence that they had been used since on civilians since.

He said he and other Syrian activists had been left furious by the refusal by some MPs to vote in favour of British involvement in possible military action on Syria.

"Ed Miliband says there should be a diplomatic solution to the problem. You cannot be diplomatic with Assad. He is worse than Adolf Hitler.

UN inspectors are now in the Netherlands analysing their findings

"Hitler didn't use chemical weapons against his own people, he did not bomb his own towns and cities. Hitler is junior compared to Assad.

"But both of them are dictators, both of them are killers. Both of them bring agony and suffering to the people around them.

"The Labour party in particular will find themselves on the wrong side of history. How can they sit back and allow thousands of innocent Syrians to die.

"If there is no punishment, if you don't stop him now, if he doesn't see that there are serious consequences for killing people by chemical weapons he will use them again and again, over and over again.

"I believe that in the future the Syrian people will look at the people who fought in the British parliament and say you left us to be killed'".

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Syria: Pressure For New Vote On UK Strikes

Syria: Where Do Arab States Stand?

Updated: 10:05pm UK, Sunday 01 September 2013

By Zein Ja'far, Sky News Producer

As US president Barack Obama takes the question of whether or not to strike Syria to Congress the Middle East awaits anxiously for a decision. But where do Arab powers stand on the issue?

:: For

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and The UAE: 

The Gulf states are actively encouraging regime change in Syria and anything that can expedite that process, including potential military strikes, will be welcomed.

The country's foreign minister Saud al Faisal has called on the international community to do all it can to the stop the Syrian Government's "aggression against its own people" and blamed the regime for an alleged chemical attack in Damascus last month.

Saudi Arabia has replaced Qatar as the principle supporter of Syrian opposition forces providing arms and funding to various groups.

The Kingdom's former ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar al-Sultan, is the man believed to have been tasked with gathering international support to topple President Bashar al Assad.

Qatar was, for the first two years of the Syrian conflict, the most vocal and vociferous opponent of the Syrian Government in the region.

The former Emir and foreign minister called for Arab troops to intervene to end the violence and even opened the Syrian opposition's first embassy in the capital Doha.

But both have since stepped down and the country's overt support for the Muslim Brotherhood, a group viewed with deep suspicion by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, has led to a wane in its influence.

The UAE also provides support to the Syrian opposition but is unlikely to involve itself militarily as it did during the Libyan war in 2011.

:: Against

Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan:

Three of the four countries that share a border with Syria are all reluctant to back military intervention.

Lebanon's political parties are inextricably linked to its larger neighbour and the violent fall-out from the crisis in Syria has already claimed dozens of lives this year.

Armed groups in the north of the country, backed by Saudi Arabia, have been fighting alongside the Free Syrian Army while Hezbollah, supporting Syrian government troops, remains Bashar al assad's most active military ally.

More than 700,000 Syrian refugees have fled to Lebanon and the possibility of a military strike is likely see those numbers swell.

Iraq's government is also staunchly against any intervention. Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki is close to Iran and the fear is that a US strike could embolden al Qaeda and affiliated groups based in the country who are crossing into Syria to fight against government forces.

Publicly Jordan has stated it is against military intervention and ruled out any launch of attacks from its own soil. Jordan's Government prefers a diplomatic solution but, as one of President Obama's closest regional allies, will not stand in the way of any strike.

It too faces a refugee crisis with more than half a million displaced Syrians living in the country, often in desperate conditions.

The Zaatari refugee camp, now one of the biggest in the world, is riddled with crime, violence and conditions for children, in particular, are bleak.

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Delhi Gang Rape: Court To Deliver Verdict

By Neville Lazarus, Sky News Producer in New Delhi

A court in New Delhi is expected to announce its verdict on a juvenile suspect accused of the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a bus last year.

The juvenile justice board in New Delhi has postponed its verdict four times in the past but is now likely to pass judgement on the teenager whose court case ended in July.

If convicted, the maximum sentence that he can receive is three years at a correction facility, which will include the time he spent in custody during the case that stirred the nation's soul.

Sky News spoke to the friend of the victim who was with the physiotherapy student on that fateful night of the attack.

He criticised what he sees as the leniency of India's juvenile justice system, which seeks to reform rather than punish criminals under 18.

He said: "As a survivor, I am angry. Where is the justice to the victim's family and friends? People blame circumstances for making a juvenile a criminal but I see a failure of the judicial and social system."

The family of the victim campaigned for the juvenile be treated as an adult, alongside five other adults who were also charged with the rape of murder of the woman.

Earlier this year, the victim's father Badri Singh told Sky News that all the accused must be given the death penalty. Only then, he said, would his daughter get justice.

A protester at the Government Secretariat and Presidential Palace in Delhi

Her parents intend to appeal to the higher courts on the matter, but lawyers say the juvenile laws will have to be amended if any change is expected in the case.

The Supreme Court is hearing a plea for a change in the juvenile age, and to consider the mental and intellectual level of a minor offender.

The juvenile, who was 17 years old when he committed the crime, pleaded not guilty during his court case.

He refuted in court the police charge sheet that he was the "most brutal" of all the six accused men. His lawyers submitted there was no medical evidence to connect him to the charges and no fingerprints could be detected within the bus to show complicity.

A native of Uttar Pradesh, the suspect came to Delhi when he was 11.

He worked at a number of road side restaurants before taking up a cleaner's job on the bus. He told the court he was a victim of the alleged ringleader of the group, Ram Singh, for whom he worked and "as not paid by for months".

The crime, which saw the woman die of internal injuries inflicted during the savage attack on a moving bus in December last year, generated a wave of protests against sex crimes against women in India.

It pressurised the government into enacting new laws and fast-track courts to try cases of crimes against women.

The five other suspects are being tried in Saket, New Delhi

In March, the Indian parliament passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, or anti-rape law. The law has called for stringent punishments for offences of rape, stalking, voyeurism and acid attacks.

A parliamentary committee on empowering women has recommended a reduction in the age of male juveniles from 18 to 16 years.

The committee had noted a 10.5% increase in crimes against women by juveniles in 2011, but the government decided against lowering the age.

The trial of the other accused - Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur - is taking place at a fast-track court in New Delhi.

They have been charged with gang rape, murder, criminal conspiracy, unnatural sex and robbery. The trial is expected to wrap up in the next few weeks, with the men facing a possible death sentence if convicted.

Over 800 pages of evidence were presented to the court and 82 witnesses examined.

A fifth man, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in jail in March.

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UN Chemical Weapons Inspectors Leave Syria

Syria: US Report On Gas Attack

Updated: 8:13pm UK, Friday 30 August 2013

The US released its assessment of the Syrian government's alleged involvement in the August 21 chemical weapons attack in Damascus. Here is the text.

The United States Government assesses with high confidence that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs on August 21, 2013. We further assess that the regime used a nerve agent in the attack.

These all-source assessments are based on human, signals, and geospatial intelligence as well as a significant body of open source reporting. Our classified assessments have been shared with the US Congress and key international partners. To protect sources and methods, we cannot publicly release all available intelligence - but what follows is an unclassified summary of the US Intelligence Community's analysis of what took place.

Syrian Government Use of Chemical Weapons on August 21

A large body of independent sources indicates that a chemical weapons attack took place in the Damascus suburbs on August 21.

In addition to US intelligence information, there are accounts from international and Syrian medical personnel; videos; witness accounts; thousands of social media reports from at least 12 different locations in the Damascus area; journalist accounts; and reports from highly credible nongovernmental organisations.

A preliminary US government assessment determined that 1,429 people were killed in the chemical weapons attack, including at least 426 children, though this assessment will certainly evolve as we obtain more information.

We assess with high confidence that the Syrian government carried out the chemical weapons attack against opposition elements in the Damascus suburbs on August 21. We assess that the scenario in which the opposition executed the attack on August 21 is highly unlikely.

The body of information used to make this assessment includes intelligence pertaining to the regime's preparations for this attack and its means of delivery, multiple streams of intelligence about the attack itself and its effect, our post-attack observations, and the differences between the capabilities of the regime and the opposition.

Our high confidence assessment is the strongest position that the US Intelligence Community can take short of confirmation. We will continue to seek additional information to close gaps in our understanding of what took place.

Background:

The Syrian regime maintains a stockpile of numerous chemical agents, including mustard, sarin, and VX and has thousands of munitions that can be used to deliver chemical warfare agents.

Syrian President Bashar al Assad is the ultimate decision maker for the chemical weapons program and members of the program are carefully vetted to ensure security and loyalty. The Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC) - which is subordinate to the Syrian Ministry of Defence - manages Syria's chemical weapons program.

We assess with high confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year, including in the Damascus suburbs.

This assessment is based on multiple streams of information including reporting of Syrian officials planning and executing chemical weapons attacks and laboratory analysis of physiological samples obtained from a number of individuals, which revealed exposure to sarin. We assess that the opposition has not used chemical weapons.

The Syrian regime has the types of munitions that we assess were used to carry out the attack on August 21, and has the ability to strike simultaneously in multiple locations. We have seen no indication that the opposition has carried out a large-scale, coordinated rocket and artillery attack like the one that occurred on August 21.

We assess that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons over the last year primarily to gain the upper hand or break a stalemate in areas where it has struggled to seize and hold strategically valuable territory. In this regard, we continue to judge that the Syrian regime views chemical weapons as one of many tools in its arsenal, including air power and ballistic missiles, which they indiscriminately use against the opposition.

The Syrian regime has initiated an effort to rid the Damascus suburbs of opposition forces using the area as a base to stage attacks against regime targets in the capital. The regime has failed to clear dozens of Damascus neighbourhoods of opposition elements, including neighbourhoods targeted on August 21, despite employing nearly all of its conventional weapons systems.

We assess that the regime's frustration with its inability to secure large portions of Damascus may have contributed to its decision to use chemical weapons on August 21.

Preparation:

We have intelligence that leads us to assess that Syrian chemical weapons personnel - including personnel assessed to be associated with the SSRC - were preparing chemical munitions prior to the attack. In the three days prior to the attack, we collected streams of human, signals and geospatial intelligence that reveal regime activities that we assess were associated with preparations for a chemical weapons attack.

Syrian chemical weapons personnel were operating in the Damascus suburb of 'Adra from Sunday, August 18 until early in the morning on Wednesday, August 21 near an area that the regime uses to mix chemical weapons, including sarin. On August 21, a Syrian regime element prepared for a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus area, including through the utilisation of gas masks.

Our intelligence sources in the Damascus area did not detect any indications in the days prior to the attack that opposition affiliates were planning to use chemical weapons.

The Attack:

Multiple streams of intelligence indicate that the regime executed a rocket and artillery attack against the Damascus suburbs in the early hours of August 21.

Satellite detections corroborate that attacks from a regime-controlled area struck neighbourhoods where the chemical attacks reportedly occurred - including Kafr Batna, Jawbar, 'Ayn Tarma, Darayya, and Mu'addamiyah. This includes the detection of rocket launches from regime controlled territory early in the morning, approximately 90 minutes before the first report of a chemical attack appeared in social media. The lack of flight activity or missile launches also leads us to conclude that the regime used rockets in the attack.

Local social media reports of a chemical attack in the Damascus suburbs began at 2:30 a.m. local time on August 21. Within the next four hours there were thousands of social media reports on this attack from at least 12 different locations in the Damascus area. Multiple accounts described chemical-filled rockets impacting opposition-controlled areas.

Three hospitals in the Damascus area received approximately 3,600 patients displaying symptoms consistent with nerve agent exposure in less than three hours on the morning of August 21, according to a highly credible international humanitarian organisation.

The reported symptoms, and the epidemiological pattern of events - characterised by the massive influx of patients in a short period of time, the origin of the patients, and the contamination of medical and first aid workers - were consistent with mass exposure to a nerve agent. We also received reports from international and Syrian medical personnel on the ground.

We have identified one hundred videos attributed to the attack, many of which show large numbers of bodies exhibiting physical signs consistent with, but not unique to, nerve agent exposure. The reported symptoms of victims included unconsciousness, foaming from the nose and mouth, constricted pupils, rapid heartbeat, and difficulty breathing.

Several of the videos show what appear to be numerous fatalities with no visible injuries, which is consistent with death from chemical weapons, and inconsistent with death from small-arms, high-explosive munitions or blister agents. At least 12 locations are portrayed in the publicly available videos, and a sampling of those videos confirmed that some were shot at the general times and locations described in the footage.

We assess the Syrian opposition does not have the capability to fabricate all of the videos, physical symptoms verified by medical personnel and NGOs, and other information associated with this chemical attack.

We have a body of information, including past Syrian practice, that leads us to conclude that regime officials were witting of and directed the attack on August 21. We intercepted communications involving a senior official intimately familiar with the offensive who confirmed that chemical weapons were used by the regime on August 21 and was concerned with the UN inspectors obtaining evidence.

On the afternoon of August 21, we have intelligence that Syrian chemical weapons personnel were directed to cease operations. At the same time, the regime intensified the artillery barrage targeting many of the neighbourhoods where chemical attacks occurred. In the 24 hour period after the attack, we detected indications of artillery and rocket fire at a rate approximately four times higher than the ten preceding days.

We continued to see indications of sustained shelling in the neighbourhoods up until the morning of August 26.

To conclude, there is a substantial body of information that implicates the Syrian government's responsibility in the chemical weapons attack that took place on August 21. As indicated, there is additional intelligence that remains classified because of sources and methods concerns that is being provided to Congress and international partners.

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