The United States warned Syria in no uncertain terms Monday not to
use chemical weapons amid intelligence reports indicating President Bashar al-Assad's regime could be preparing to take that step as it escalates its fight against rebel forces. "I want to make it
absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command -- the world is
watching," President Barack Obama said during a speech at the National
Defense University in Washington.
"The use of chemical
weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. And if you make the tragic
mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will
be held accountable," he said.
Obama has previously
warned that any use of chemical weapons by Syria in its civil war would
be crossing a "red line" that would prompt a swift U.S. response.
Earlier on Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a similar warning.
"I'm not going to
telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible
evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons
against their own people," she said. "But suffice it to say, we are
certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur."U.S. officials are
concerned that with fighting closing in on Damascus, forcing the
temporary closure of the airport there, the regime may be feeling
desperate and toying with the idea that chemical weapons could finally
crush the persistent rebellion.
"We believe that with the
regime's grip on power loosening with its failure to put down the
opposition through conventional means, we have an increased concern
about the possibility of the regime taking the desperate act of using
its chemical weapons," White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday.
The Syrian Foreign
Ministry denied that the country had any plans to use chemical weapons,
state TV reported. Citing a source at the ministry, state TV said Syria
has repeatedly stressed it will not use such weapons, if they exist,
against its people no matter the circumstances.
But U.S. officials say "worrying signs" suggest otherwise.
According to one U.S.
official, Syrian forces have begun combining chemicals that would be
used to make deadly sarin gas for use in weapons to attack rebel and
civilian populations.
The United States
obtained intelligence over the weekend indicating this development,
according to the official who had direct knowledge of the latest
information.
The intelligence, the
official said, came from multiple sources but the official declined to
provide any more details about how the United States learned of it.
Sarin gas, the source said, could most readily be used to fill artillery shells.
"This isn't just about
movement, but about potential intent to make certain chemical weapons
ready for use," said a separate source, another U.S. official who spoke
on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
That source declined to
describe the intelligence and acknowledged that the United States isn't
entirely sure what the Syrian government is up to, or who ordered the
moves.
Meanwhile, the United
Nations said Monday that it is immediately pulling all nonessential
employees out of Syria. It was unclear how many people were involved or
what role they have been playing in Syria. The United Nations removed
cease-fire monitors from the country in August.
At least 239 people were
killed in violence across Syria on Monday, according to the Local
Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition activists.
The attacks included the bombing by Syrian warplanes of a town within sight of the Turkish border, which killed 10 people.
Thick black smoke rose
from the border town of Ras al-Ain, where witnesses said warplanes
dropped two bombs. One appeared to strike a three-story building where
opposition forces were staying, neighborhood mayor Mehmet Saitavci said.
The strike sent panicked civilians running to the fence that separates the two countries, witnesses told CNN.
Saitavci said the wounded were making their way to the border, where they were being picked up by ambulances.
"There are people with arms and legs missing coming across," he said.
In Damascus, apparent
fighting around the airport forced Egypt's national airline to cancel
flights to Syria, including recalling one flight that had taken off,
after Syrian authorities contacted the airline to say the security
situation was bad "at the airport and its vicinity," airline spokesman
Dina el-Fouly said.
The airport had been
closed for three days because of fierce fighting, and Egypt Air had
planned to resume flights Monday. They are now canceled indefinitely,
el-Fouly said.
Elsewhere, government
forces bombed, shelled and rained rocket fire on cities across the
country in the latest efforts by al-Assad's forces to drive back rebel
advances, opposition activists said.
The airstrikes signal a
sharp escalation in the fighting by forces loyal to al-Assad and rebels
seeking his ouster, raising concerns among Syria's neighbors that the
21-month-old civil war could spill across the borders.
Neighboring countries have reported deadly border skirmishes with either Syrian forces or rebels.
In June, Syrian
anti-aircraft defenses shot down a Turkish military reconnaissance jet,
killing two pilots, after it briefly crossed into Syrian airspace in the
eastern Mediterranean Sea. Months later, errant Syrian artillery shells
hit the border town of Akcakale, killing five Turkish civilians.
As a result, Turkey has
asked NATO for Patriot missiles to bolster its air defenses, a request
NATO is expected to approve on Tuesday.
The United States,
Germany and the Netherlands, which all have Patriot capabilities, have
signaled they may be willing to contribute missiles should NATO approve
the deployment to Turkey.NATO Secretary General
Anders Fogh Rasmussen stressed to CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Monday
that the possible deployment of Patriot missiles is "purely defensive,"
and not aimed at preparing a no-fly zone.
"We have no intention to intervene militarily in Syria. We will do what it takes to protect our ally Turkey," he said.
However, Russia reiterated its opposition.
"We don't consider that
this will lead to the improvement of security in the current situation."
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dimitri Pesvok, said Monday.
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