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West holds back on Syria strike
[Bangla Daily Star] UN chief  the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... yesterday said his investigating team would report back this week on suspected chemical weapons attacks in Syria as the US and its allies held back from immediate military action. US President Barack Obama I've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go... said he has yet to sign off on a plan to strike Syria over the horrific attacks last week that activists say killed hundreds of people and threatened to draw the West into the brutal 29-month conflict. A Western bombing blitz had appeared imminent earlier this week, but US allies were increasingly reluctant to act before hearing the results of a UN probe into the alleged poisonous gas attacks. Ban said the UN chemical weapons experts -- who headed out to one of the attack sites near Damascus for the third day of inspections -- would leave Syria by Saturday and report to him immediately. He appealed to divided international powers to work together to head off military action in Syria, where the UN says 100,000 people have been killed and several million made homeless since the conflict erupted in March 2011. "Diplomacy should be given a chance ... peace (should) be given a chance," Ban said, adding that he had spoken to Obama about the situation. With any US-led missile strike unlikely to have UN Security Council backing, key Damascus allies Russia and Iran again warned against any Western intervention, saying it could set off a wider regional conflict. Chinese media also warned the West against attacking. In an editorial headed "No excuse for strikes", the state-run China Daily said the US and its Western allies were "acting as judge, jury and executioner". Posted by: Fred 2013-08-30 |
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