U.S. claims of chemical weapons against Syrian rebels meet caution at U.N.

By Colum Lynch, Washington Post, June 14, 2013

UNITED NATIONS—Obama administration claims that Syria has used chemical weapons against rebels encountered skepticism Friday at the United Nations, where the U.N. secretary general and the Russian ambassador said the evidence falls short of definitive proof.

Speaking to reporters at U.N. headquarters, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appeared to break ranks with Washington, warning against a rush to arm the Syrian rebels over assertions that government forces used chemical weapons.

“There is no military solution to this conflict, even if both the government and the opposition, and their supporters, think there can be,” he said. “The military path points directly towards the disintegration of the country.”

Ban said he appreciated the willingness of the United States, Britain, France and other governments to provide evidence to a U.N. team investigating the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria. But he cautioned that “any information on the alleged use of chemical weapons cannot be ensured without convincing evidence of the chain of custody.”

The secretary general said collecting the necessary proof would require the Syrian government to permit the U.N. chemical weapons team access to suspected sites inside the country. So far, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has refused the unlimited access sought by the U.N. team.

The Russian response was chillier. Speaking hours after the White House announcement Thursday, President Vladimir Putin said he had doubts that chemical weapons had been used.

On Friday, Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, continued the theme. “The contacts we have with American experts did not convince our experts that, in fact, the information which was presented was convincing enough to come to a definitive conclusion that government forces used chemical weapons,” he said.

The responses from Ban and the Russians demonstrated the challenge the United States, Britain and France face in persuading the world that Syria has used chemical weapons. Analysts here suggest that the effort is more difficult because of the false claims about weapons of mass destruction used by the United States and Britain to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq.