US, allies mull military action in Syria
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macron has repeatedly said that the use of chemical weapons in syria is a red line that would trigger reprisals2 earlier a french government spokesman would not be drawn on a timeline for any possible response but said trump and macron had agreed to speak again within 48 hours1 the attempts to revive a probe that was disbanded last year come days after at least 43 people were killed in an attack on douma the last rebel-held suburb of the capital damascus1 russia accused the us france and britain of putting forward the text knowing moscow would not agree so they could use the veto as a pretext for military action1 russian ambassador to the un vassily nebenzia asked the us to refrain from the plans that youre currently developing for syria after the third failed vote1 nikki haley the us ambassador to the un said russias proposals were designed to give them veto power over the findings and staff of an independent investigation and thus protect syrian leader and russian ally bashar al assad1 us president donald trump cancelled his first trip to latin america to focus on his countrys response which he has warned would be imminent1 french president emmanuel macron said he was consulting with the us and britain and would announce a decision on a military response within days1 at the invitation of syria and russia investigators from the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons opcw were en route to douma on tuesday to collect evidence of whether there was a chemical attack1 the watchdog said it has been analyzing information since the first reports of the alleged use of chemical weapons in the april 7 attack1 it is only responsible for determining whether chemical weapons were used not who used them1 the syrian and russian moves to involve the opcw came hours after trump described saturdays attack in douma as atrocious and warned of some major decisions over the next 24 to 48 hours1 russias veto of a us-drafted attempt in the un security council to establish a new probe to assign blame for chemical attacks in syria was followed by two russian drafts both of which were voted down1 once again its once the facts are established benjamin griveaux said. i cannot tell you today if its a matter of hours or days1 the un failed three times on tuesday to take action over an alleged chemical weapons attack in syria as the us and its allies consider taking military steps1 british prime minister theresa may said she would be speaking to macron and trump on tuesday1 nato secretary general jens stoltenberg condemned the use of chemical weapons in the strongest terms1 this was a horrendous attack which killed dozens of people including many children1 it took place in an area where the syrian regime operates1 it is an area where syria and its allies russia and iran are denying access to international monitors stoltenberg added1 meanwhile pro-government forces were on alert across syria and had evacuated some of their posts in anticipation of possible foreign strikes according to the syrian observatory for human rights a war monitor1 syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons in a russian-brokered deal in 2013 after hundreds of people were killed in a poison gas attack on rebel-held damascus suburbs1 however there have been repeated allegations of government chemical attacks since then including the april 2017 sarin gas attack on the rebel-held town of khan sheikhoun1 days after that attack the us launched dozens of missiles on shayrat airbase in central syria in response1 russia at the time called for an opcw investigation but then rejected the report of the joint un-opcw panel that blamed the government and later used its veto to prevent the panels mandate being extended beyond november1