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| United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks to the media after briefing the Security Council on the UN chemical weapons report on the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Arabic Republic at the United Nations in New York on Monday. Photo: Reuters |
(VOVworld)- Representatives of the UN expert group on Monday submitted to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon the report on chemical weapon use in an attack on August 21 in Syria. The report found 'clear and convincing evidence' that the nerve gas sarin was used in the Ghouta area, a Damacus suburb, targeting civilians in a wide scope. According to the experts, sarin contained in missile warheads killed approximately 1400 people. This is the first official conformation by UN experts of chemical weapon use in the 30-month civil war in Syria. The report did not specify, however, which side conducted the attack. Ban Ki-moon called the chemical attack in Syria a war crime and called on the UN Security Council to consider measures to guarantee the Syrian government implements the US-Russia plan. Meanwhile, many western countries insisted that the Syrian government take responsibility. UK Ambassador to the UN Mark Lyall Grant and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that al-Assad is the perpetrator behind the attack.