US President Barack Obama was meeting top national security
aides on Friday over possible missile strikes to punish Syria for its
alleged use of chemical weapons in a deadly attack last week.
France gave its backing to the US plans after British lawmakers voted
against any involvement in military action against Damascus and other
close allies including Germany said they would not sign up.
The
White House has signalled that Obama, guided by the “best interests” of
the United States, was ready to go it alone on Syria after accusing
President Bashar al-Assad’s regime of using chemical weapons against its
own people.
But Russia, Syria’s most powerful ally, questioned
US intelligence on the August 21 gas attacks and warned against any
military strikes without UN backing.
In Damascus, UN experts
carried out their final investigations into the attacks east of the
capital that activists say killed more than 300 people, visiting a
hospital where victims were reportedly being treated.
The team is
due to leave the war-battered country Saturday and report back
immediately to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who has appealed to the West to
allow time for their findings to be assessed.
Ban is due to meet
ambassadors from the five UN Security Council permanent members at 1600
GMT, while US Secretary of State John Kerry will make a statement on the
Syria crisis at 1630 GMT.
Faced with an impasse at the Security
Council and the British parliament’s shock vote Thursday, Obama has been
forced to look elsewhere for international partners.
While
Germany and Canada ruled out joining any military strikes, French
President Francois Hollande — whose country was a strident opponent of
the US-led war on Iraq — said the British decision would not affect his
government’s stance.
“France wants firm and proportionate action against the Damascus regime,” Hollande said in an interview with Le Monde newspaper.
US
Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the White House was still seeking an
“international coalition that will act together” against Assad’s
regime.
The British government’s defeat in parliament came after
the failure of an 11th-hour effort by British diplomats to win UN
backing for action at a meeting of Security Council permanent members.
Gruesome
pictures of some of the reported victims of the attacks, including
children, shocked the world and piled on the pressure for a response
that could draw a reluctant West into the vicious Syrian civil war.
But
Russia and Iran, and even some US allies and respected commentators,
have warned against any intervention, saying it risked sparking a wider
conflict.
Divisions over Syria have further chilled the frosty
relations between Washington and Moscow ahead of the G20 summit next
week in Saint Petersburg, where pointedly there will be no face-to-face
talks between Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
US
National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said Obama’s
decision-making “will be guided by what is in the best interests of the
United States”.
“He believes that there are core interests at
stake for the United States and that countries who violate international
norms regarding chemical weapons need to be held accountable.”
Earlier
in the week, reports had suggested a Western strike was imminent, but
questions have been raised about the quality of the intelligence linking
Assad to the gas attack.
Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem
reportedly told the UN chief that Damascus would reject any “partial”
conclusions about the attack before full analyses are undertaken.
The
military buildup was continuing in the region, with US warships armed
with scores of cruise missiles converging on the eastern Mediterranean.
In
Damascus the mood was heavy with fear and security forces were making
preparations for possible air bombardments, pulling soldiers back from
potential targets.
More than 100,000 people have died since the
conflict erupted in March 2011 and two million are refugees, half of
them children, according to the United Nations.
Some commentators
have questioned the wisdom of Obama dragging the United States into
another conflict after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — particularly
as Al-Qaeda militants are among the rebels fighting the Assad regime.
Some
members of the US Congress voiced support for limited surgical missile
strikes, while urging transparency from the administration.
But
an opinion poll released Friday said half of all Americans believe Obama
should not intervene, and Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said
military strikes risked escalating the conflict into a “global
conflagration”.
Syria’s main arms supplier Russia has blocked all
attempts to toughen sanctions against Damascus or authorise outside
force to punish or unseat the regime.
Putin’s chief foreign
policy aide Uri Ushakov complained Friday that the US was not sharing
its intelligence about the gas attacks and so “we do not believe it”.
And
he said any military action that bypasses the Security Council “will
deal a serious blow to the entire system of world order”.
Assad, whose regime strongly denies using chemical weapons and instead blames “terrorist” rebels, remains defiant.
“Syria will defend itself in the face of any aggression,” he said Thursday, vowing “victory” for his people.
Syria’s
jittery neighbours have also taken steps to boost security, while
several airlines have changed their times for flights into Beirut, with
Lebanon always vulnerable to spillovers of the conflict in its larger
neighbour.
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