Damascus gives green light to UN chemical arms probe

Syrian army soldiers are seen deployed in the Jobar neighbourhood of Damascus Syria gave the green light on Sunday for United Nations inspectors to carry out a probe into the alleged use of chemical weapons near Damascus, the foreign ministry announced .
"An agreement was concluded today (Sunday) in Damascus between the Syrian government and the United Nations during the visit of the UN high representative for disarmament, Angela Kane, to allow the UN team lead by professor Aake Sellstroem to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in Damascus province," a ministry statement said.
The agreement "is effective immediately," it added.
The United Nations and the Syrian government "are to agree on the date and time of the team's visit to the sites on which there has been an agreement," the ministry said.
It said the deal was struck in a meeting between Kane, whose organisation has had a 20-member team of inspectors on the ground in Syria since August 18, and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.
"Syria is ready to cooperate with the inspection team to prove that the allegations by terrorist groups (rebels) of the use of chemical weapons by Syrian troops in the Eastern Ghouta region are lies," Muallem was quoted as telling Kane.
Opposition leaders said Friday that UN inspectors would have "unfettered" access to areas under rebel control such as Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus to investigate the use of chemical weapons.
Doctors Without Borders has said 355 people died last week of "neurotoxic" symptoms, after the opposition claimed regime forces unleashed chemicals east and southwest of Damascus last Wednesday causing more than 1,300 deaths.
The regime has denied the charges and in turn accused the rebels of using chemical arms.
The UN team arrived in the Syrian capital last week to begin a hard-won mission which UN officials originally said would last two weeks and cover three sites.
The mission had been repeatedly delayed amid differences with President Bashar al-Assad's regime over the scope of the probe into the alleged use of chemical arms in the 29-month civil war.
But the Syrian government insists it has nothing to hide.
Under its original mandate, the team was expected to investigate Khan al-Assal, near Aleppo, where the government says rebels used chemical weapons on March 19, killing at least 26 people, including 16 Syrian soldiers.
The opposition says government forces carried out the attack.
Damascus had called for a UN probe in March but insisted it focus solely on Khan al-Assal. Ban, however, pressed for broader access and investigation of other sites as well.
Damascus on Sunday gave the green light for United Nations inspectors to carry out an immediate probe into allegations of chemical weapons use near the capital last week, Syria's foreign ministry said.
"An agreement was concluded today (Sunday) in Damascus between the Syrian government and the United Nations during the visit of the UN high representative for disarmament, Angela Kane, to allow the UN team lead by professor Aake Sellstroem to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in Damascus province," a ministry statement said.
The agreement "is effective immediately," it added.
The statement from Damascus came after an Iranian military chief warned that the US will face "harsh consequences" if it intervenes in ally Syria over claims of chemical attacks, according to Fars news agency.
"If the United States crosses this red line, there will be harsh consequences for the White House," armed forces deputy chief of staff Massoud Jazayeri was quoted as saying.
A year ago US President Barack Obama warned the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a "red line" and have "enormous consequences".
On Sunday, his Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the US military was ready to take action against Syria.
"President Obama has asked the Defence Department to prepare options for all contingencies. We have done that," Hagel told reporters in Malaysia.
"Again, we are prepared to exercise whatever option, if he decides to employ one of those options," he said, a day after Obama held a rare meeting his top aides and brass to discuss Syria.
After the meeting, Obama spoke by phone with Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, which has accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons on a large scale.
A statement from Cameron's office said if the use of chemical weapons by Syria would "merit a serious response" -- echoing French calls that "force" be used if the claims are confirmed.
But the Iranian military leader warned Washington, its Western allies and Israel against playing with "fire".
"The terrorist war under way in Syria was planned by the United States and reactionary countries in the region against the resistance front (against Israel)," Fars quoted Jazayeri as saying.
"Despite this, the government and people of Syria have achieved huge successes.
"Those who add fire to the oil will not escape the vengeance of the people," added Jazayeri.
Meanwhile, Israeli President Shimon Peres called for an international effort to "take out" chemical weapons in Syria.
 "The time has come to make a joint effort to take out all the chemical weapons from Syria," Peres said, without elaborating if he envisioned this being achieved through military strikes or otherwise.
The chemical arms, Peres said, "cannot remain there, whether in the hands of Assad or the hands of other people."
"It's very complicated, very expensive, but it will be more expensive and more dangerous to keep" the situation as it is, said the Israeli leader.
"I think it's unprecedented what's happening in Syria," said Peres.
"I can't believe that there has been the most unbelievable war crime which is the use of chemical weapons to kill hundreds of women and children," he said in remarks ahead of talks with visiting French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
For his part, Fabius reiterated the French stance that "everything indicates a chemical massacre, and it’s very heavy responsibility falls on Bashar al-Assad".
"We don't understand the absence of a strong reaction by the international community after the facts have been proven.
"If the international community stays silent in front of such massacre, the people will wonder who or what can we trust," the French minister warned.
Fabius was in Jerusalem for talks with senior Israeli officials, after Saturday meetings with the Palestinian president and prime minister.
Speaking ahead of his weekly cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the reported chemical weapons attacks in Syria "a terrible tragedy and a terrible crime".
"Our hearts go out to the women, babies and children who were hit so cruelly by weapons of mass destruction," he said. "This situation cannot continue."
Netanyahu said the alleged attack was further proof "the world's most dangerous regimes cannot have possession over the world's most dangerous weapons".
The premier, who was set to meet Fabius later in the day, said Israel was closely monitoring Syria and would be ready to take action if it felt at risk.
"Our finger is a responsible finger, and if necessary it can be on the trigger," he said. "We will always know to protect our citizens."
Israeli officials have taken care to not voice support of foreign military intervention in Syria, as the US said it was ready to take action there but still evaluating the claims of a chemical weapons attack.
Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Sunday that "the massive use of chemical weapons and the terrible pictures of hundreds of dead children won't be able to pass without a reaction" from the international community.
"If I must make an assessment -- there will be some sort of reaction by the international community, the US, maybe other states," he told army radio.
Also on Sunday, al-Qaeda-linked Syrian jihadist group al-Nusra Front vowed revenge strikes against villages from Assad's community over claims his forces used chemical weapons.
"The Alawite villages will pay the price for each chemical rocket that struck our people in Damascus," al-Nusra front chief Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani said in an audio message posted on the Internet and on his Twitter account, adding that "one thousand rockets will be used for this purpose".
"It is a debt towards... our relatives in the eastern Ghouta," he said.
"This regime attacked the eastern region (of Damascus province) with dozens of chemical rockets that killed hundreds of children, women and men," Jawlani said, calling on opposition fighters across the country to take revenge.
Jawlani also suggested that the revenge attacks could take place as soon as Sunday, calling on "the soldiers of al-Nusra" to "spread their fire... before the end of the day and the setting of the sun".
Assad hails from the Alawite community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam unlike most Sunni rebel groups fighting to topple him, including al-Nusra, whose chief in March pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda.
The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been killed so far in the Syrian uprising.