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A forthcoming report from the United Nations will accuse Syria of crimes against humanity and confirm the regime's use of chemical weapons, according to reports from Reuters and the Agence-France Presse. "I believe the report will be an overwhelming report that the chemical weapons was used," UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon told reporters today.
The report is the result of painstaking work by a team of UN affiliated experts, who collected evidence and eye witness accounts along with samples of air, soil, blood and urine from the scene of the attack near Damascus. The report was intended to focus on the means and method of the attack, rather than identifying the perpetrators, but experts had previously told The New York Times that the evidence would leave little doubt that President Assad's forces were behind the attack.
It's unclear how this news affects Syria's plans to disarm its chemical weapons stockpile and sign the international chemical weapons ban, which had hinged on promises to avoid US military involvement. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the president's plan for a limited military strike next week.
BREAKING: UN report will accuse Syria of crimes against humanity and confirm the use of chemical weapons
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) September 13, 2013
