By Li Hongmei
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon yesterday condemned chemical weapon attacks in Syria as a war crime and said UN investigators had indisputable evidence of their use.
Ban called on the Security Council to impose "consequences" for any failure by President Bashar Assad to keep to a Russia-US plan to destroy Syria's banned chemical arsenal.
Ban told the 15-nation council that UN investigators have "now confirmed, unequivocally and objectively that chemical weapons have been used in Syria."
He added: "This is a war crime. I trust all can join me in condemning this despicable crime."
Ban was speaking at a closed meeting of the council, which is divided between supporters and opponents of tough international action against Assad.
The chairman of a UN war crimes panel said it was investigating 14 suspected chemical attacks in Syria.
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said his panel had not pinpointed the chemical used in the 14 suspected chemical attacks it was investigating.
He said the panel believes Assad's government has been responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, while rebel groups have perpetrated war crimes but not crimes against humanity "because there is not a clear chain of command."
UN inspectors said yesterday there was "clear and convincing evidence" that chemical weapons were used on a relatively large scale in an attack last month in Syria that killed hundreds of people.
The findings represent the first official confirmation by scientific experts that chemical weapons were used in the Syrian conflict, but left the key question of who launched the attack unanswered.
The US has said Assad's government was behind it, while the Syrian government accuses the rebels.
The inspectors said "the environmental, chemical and medical samples we have collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used" on August 21.
They had been mandated to report on whether chemical weapons were used - not on who was responsible.
The attack unfolded as the UN team was in Syria to investigate earlier reported attacks. Chief weapons inspector Ake Sellstrom handed over the report to the secretary-general on Sunday amid a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at getting Syria to put its chemical weapons under international control for destruction.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry briefed US allies on a broad agreement reached over the weekend with Russia to end Syria's chemical weapons program, pressing for broad support for the plan that averted US military strikes. Kerry was meeting his counterparts from France, Britain, Turkey and Saudi Arabia in Paris before seeking a UN resolution that would detail how Syria can secure and destroy its stockpile.
