Summary
- Western leaders put off a final decision on military strikes in Syria on Thursday, opting for further consultation between allies.
- Donald Trump and Theresa May spoke on the phone on Thursday evening and agreed Bashar al-Assad’s regime had “a pattern of dangerous behaviour” with chemical weapons that cannot go unchallenged. Both leaders are yet to announce what action they will take in Syria alongside France.
- The French government said it had “proof” that the Syrian regime was responsible for Saturday’s alleged chemical attack in Damascus, which reportedly killed at least 50 people and injured hundreds, according to president Emmanuel Macron.
- The US defence secretary, James Mattis, said Washington was gathering evidence about who carried out the attack and his main concern about the American military response was how to stop the tensions “escalating out of control”.
- Preparations for a possible Russian counterattack on the British base RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus were under way on Thursday in the event of US-led military action in Syria.
- American TV network NBC reported that blood and urine samples from the victims of Saturday’s attack had traces of a nerve agent and chlorine, indicating that Assad’s government was responsible.
- President Trump stepped back from his promise of an imminent missile strike in Syria, tweeting that he “never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!”
- Inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are set to arrive in Damascus to start an investigation into the chemical attack. They are not due to visit the site of the incident until Saturday, however.
- Russia’s UN ambassador said his top diplomatic priority was to avert war in Syria, but he did not rule out the possibility of US-Russian conflict.
- Sweden has proposed a draft resolution to UN security council that would include immediately sending a high-level disarmament mission to Syria to address outstanding issues on the use of chemical weapons “once and for all” in a bid to de-escalate the situation.
For a full report on the UK’s response to the Syria crisis, read more here:
Our correspondents in Washington, Paris and Moscow have the latest on the international perspective:
For more on the situation inside Syria, read Martin Chulov’s report:
Thanks for following. Have a peaceful evening.
Updated
Trump and May: 'the use of chemical weapons must not go unchallenged'
The leaders of the UK and US spoke on the phone on Thursday evening and agreed to work closely on their response to the chemical weapons attack in the Syrian capital last Saturday.
Downing Street released a statement following the conversation between Mrs May and President Trump. The two leaders agreed the Assad regime had “a pattern of dangerous behaviour” with chemical weapons.
The prime minister spoke to president Trump about Syria this evening.
They agreed that the Assad regime had established a pattern of dangerous behaviour in relation to the use of chemical weapons.
They agreed it was vital that the use of chemical weapons did not go unchallenged, and on the need to deter the further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime.
They agreed to keep working closely together on the international response.
Updated
The prospect of ever more commercial flights being re-routed is causing consternation in Cyprus, the tourist-dependent island that also hosts Britain’s strategic military bases in the east Mediterranean.
Our correspondent Helena Smith, who is on the island, reports that senior government officials have been at pains to stress that Cyprus has no part in the conflict being played out in Syria. Its foreign minister, Nicos Christodoulides, echoing mounting concerns over the impact on the island of possible strikes against Syria, reiterated that his country was “in no way involved in what is happening, or what may happen, in Syria.”
As a former British colony, Cyprus had hosted the United Kingdom’s sovereign base areas, including RAF Akrotiri, Britain’s premier forward mounting base in the region, since 1960, he said. “There is absolutely no cause for concern. We stress that Cyprus remains one of the safest places in Europe.“
The island is expecting more than three million tourists this year, crucial to its recovery from the recent economic crisis, but the fact that almost all flights to and from the Middle East are now flying south west of the island has raised fears of tourist cancellations.
Updated
Several UK newspapers have led with today’s developments in the conflict in Syria, including the Times, which reports that the largest US air and naval strike force since the Iraq war is on its way to the region.
THE TIMES: Biggest task force since Iraq on course for Syria #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/nRh4FMtRPq
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) April 12, 2018
The Guardian writes that the path has been cleared for British military action in Syria by Theresa May’s cabinet.
May gets Cabinet on board.
— Paul Johnson (@paul__johnson) April 12, 2018
So UK now tied to Trump.
-Tomorrow’s Guardian pic.twitter.com/JKuTm34RTP
The i newspaper follows a similar line, reporting Emmanuel Macron’s claim that France has “proof” the Syria used chemical weapons during an attack in Damascus last Saturday.
Friday's i front page: Cabinet gives May go-ahead to attack Syria #TomorrowsPaperToday pic.twitter.com/DH5N25rAbb
— i newspaper (@theipaper) April 12, 2018
Updated
White House: no final decision made on Syria military action
Following a meeting with his national security team, Donald Trump’s White House issued a statement saying “no final decision has been made” on intervention in Syria.
“We are continuing to assess intelligence and are engaged in conversations with our partners and allies,” the statement continued, adding that the US president would speak later on Thursday with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the prime minister, Theresa May.
Updated
Commercial airlines are avoiding Syrian airspace completely tonight, flightradar24’s live map of the region shows. The Mediterranean sea between Cyprus and Syria is empty, too.
It emerged yesterday that several airlines are rerouting flights after Europe’s air traffic control agency said plane operators in the eastern Mediterranean should exercise caution over the next 72 hours due to possible airstrikes in Syria.
Updated
The former US president Jimmy Carter, now aged 93, has been speaking about American military intervention around the world and warned President Trump to avoid military action in Syria.
I pray that he would keep our country at peace and not exaggerate or exacerbate the challenges that come up with North Korea, in Russia or in Syria.
I hope he realises very profoundly as I did, and as other presidents have done, that any nuclear exchange could involve catastrophe for all human beings.
Updated
While we wait for reaction to the cabinet’s announcement on Syria, it is worth noting that the language used in the statement echoes comments made by Theresa May yesterday and does not mention a Commons vote.
Earlier, Jeremy Corbyn said it was vital that parliament had a chance to debate intervention in Syria.
It is vital that parliament has the chance to debate and decide in advance on any government proposals to support a new US-led military intervention in Syria, which risks a dangerous escalation of the conflict.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) April 12, 2018
At this stage, it is difficult for the UK government to say more about its response while it waits for the outcome of discussions in the White House.
Updated
UK cabinet backs continued cooperation with France and USA over Syria response
After meeting for two hours, Theresa May’s cabinet has issued a statement vowing to coordinate with France and the US in their response to the chemical attack.
Cabinet agreed that the Assad regime has a track record of the use of chemical weapons and it is highly likely that the regime is responsible for Saturday’s attack.
On military action, it read:
Cabinet agreed it was vital that the use of chemical weapons did not go unchallenged.
Cabinet agreed on the need to take action to alleviate humanitarian distress and to deter the further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime.
NEW: Cabinet backs PM on Syria, agreed chemical weapons use “cannot go unchallenged” and agreed “the need to take action to deter the further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime.” No more specifics, prob guided by the fact the US is still to publicly agree its position. pic.twitter.com/0rpBlMtBWi
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) April 12, 2018
Updated
Evening summary
- The French government has “proof” that the Syrian regime was responsible for Saturday’s alleged chemical attack in Damascus, which reportedly killed around 50 people and injured hundreds, according to president Emmanuel Macron.
- The US defence secretary, James Mattis, says Washington is gathering evidence about who carried out the attack and his main concern about the American military response is how to stop the tensions “escalating out of control”.
- American TV network NBC is reporting that blood and urine samples from the victims of Saturday’s attack had traces of a nerve agent and chlorine, indicating that the government of Bashar al-Assad was responsible.
- President Trump has stepped back from his promise of an missile strike in Syria, tweeting that he “never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!”
- Inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are set to arrive in Damascus to start an investigation into the chemical attack. They are not due to visit the site of the incident until Saturday, however.
- The British government held a two-hour cabinet meeting on Thursday to discuss the UK’s military response to Saturday’s chemical attack in Syria.
- Russia’s UN ambassador says his top diplomatic priority is to avert war in Syria. He did not rule out the possibility of US-Russian conflict.
If you want to read a full report on today’s developments, our correspondents in Washington, Paris and Moscow have the latest.
Read it here:
Updated
President Trump has stuck to tax reform so far, but Russia’s UN ambassador has said the top diplomatic priority is to avert further conflict in Syria. He did not rule out the possibility of US-Russian conflict.
US officials say traces of nerve agents on Douma victims - NBC
American TV network NBC has quoted US officials as saying that blood and urine samples from the victims of Saturday’s attack showed traces chlorine and a nerve agent, and that US intelligence had other evidence pointing to the Syrian regime’s culpability, which would be presented to the president.
The reports echo a statement by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who said earlier today that his government had “proof” that the government of Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the attack.
Updated
Donald Trump is speaking outside the White House about tax cuts.
You can watch his talk through the White House stream here:
We will bring you anything he says about the crisis in Syria.
Sweden has proposed a way forward to the paralysed UN security council that would include immediately sending a high-level disarmament mission to Syria to address outstanding issues on the use of chemical weapons “once and for all”, AP reports.
A Swedish draft resolution, circulated to council members on Thursday, would also express the council’s determination to establish “a new impartial, independent and professional” investigative body to determine responsibility for the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
It would ask the secretary general Antonio Guterres to submit proposals to the council within 10 days. The draft would also give council support to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ fact-finding mission that Sweden’s UN ambassador, Olof Skoog, said “is on its way” to Syria to determine whether chemical weapons were used in the Damascus suburb of Douma last weekend.
Skoog said he expected the proposal to be addressed at Thursday’s closed-door emergency council meeting on Syria.
Updated
UK cabinet meeting on military action in Syria ends
Cabinet ministers have left Downing Street after a marathon cabinet meeting which lasted more than two hours, double the normal amount of time.
May is expected to have laid out the next steps for military action, but ministers have been tight-lipped leaving Downing Street.
A No 10 spokesman said details of what had been agreed in the meeting would be released this evening, though it is not expected to be imminent.
Updated
Syria has said it would hold the west responsible for any delay in the arrival of a mission from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate a suspected chemical attack, according to Reuters.
A source in the Syrian foreign ministry was quoted as saying in a news flash on state television that western parties were seeking to obstruct the mission’s task and “meddle in its work”.
OPCW inspectors will arrive in Syria tonight and on Friday to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma last weekend.
Updated
My colleague Mona Mahmood has been speaking to Syrians about the possibility of further intervention by western states, including Bashar Ali, 30, who is a soldier in the Syrian army and lives in the Damascus suburb of Harsta.
We have received orders to be ready and we are in a state of alert and ready to fight for our beloved Syria. We are surprised by this US insane logic of repeating threats against Syria every couple of years. Do not the US administration feel enough of the massacres in Iraq, Afghanistan and any other place in the world they interfered in?
We lived under the reign of president Bashar Al-Assad for more than ten years, Syria was the third safest country in the world. This overall chaos was created by foreign support specifically the Gulf countries which pour billions to keep the destruction of Syria and the killing of the Syrian people. Why does Trump not stop the war against Yemen? There are thousands of Iraqi victims because of the US invasion, why he does not compensate them? Why he does not help the rebuilding of Syria and you know Syria is a poor country? We are suffering a hard embargo, hardly can get food or medications.
Updated
Trump on Syria crisis: 'We’ll see what happens'
Donald Trump remained vague on plans to respond to alleged chemical attacks in Syria, telling reporters on Thursday that a decision would be made “fairly soon”.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said ahead of a meeting with lawmakers at the White House. “We’re looking very seriously at that situation.”
“It’s too bad the world puts us in a position like that.”
Earlier on Thursday, the US leader stepped back from his promise to fire missiles at Syria imminently, tweeting that he never gave a timetable for an attack.
Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our “Thank you America?”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2018
Updated
Experts from the OPCW chemical weapons watchdog will arrive in Syria on Thursday evening and Friday and will start work on Saturday to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma, Syria’s UN ambassador Bashar Jaafari has said.
“We will facilitate the arrival of the team to anywhere they want, in Douma, to check wether or not there was use of chemical substances,” Jaafari told reporters.
AFP said the ambassador denied that Syrian forces had carried out chemical attacks in the country, and suggested “terrorists” from Libya had acquired chemicals weapons which were smuggled into Syria with the help of Turkish, Saudi, US and French intelligence agencies.
Updated
Democrats grill Pompeo at Senate confirmation hearing
Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump’s pick to be the next US secretary of state, has been questioned by Democrats at his Senate confirmation hearing about his closeness to the US president. David Smith reports:
The state department has been marginalised under Rex Tillerson’s leadership and old allies around thew world have been left bemused by mixed messages from an impulsive president.
Pompeo is seen as a foreign policy hawk, opposed to the Iran nuclear deal, and has been criticised for his past support for the Iraq war and tolerance of waterboarding and other methods of torture.
Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, threw down the gauntlet over Pompeo’s closeness to Trump, who this week alone has tweeted about firing missiles into Syria and clashing with Russia. Menendez said: “Trump’s erratic approach to foreign policy, which has left our allies confused and our adversaries emboldened. It’s an approach driven by impulse, not strategy.”
Trump’s “America First” polices have left America “isolated and alone” in the midst of unprecedented challenges, he said, in the face of an aggressive Russia, a destabilised Middle East, an emboldened China and the butchery of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who has used chemical weapons against innocent civilians.
“Meanwhile, President Trump has abandoned the very democratic values and ideals that have shaped America’s role as a beacon to our friends and as a bulwark against a world in crisis,” Menendez continued.
He described the state department as “emaciated” under the current administration. “As the Senate considers your nomination to be the president’s top foreign policy advisor, we must ask: will you enable President Trump’s worst instincts?
US defence secretary Jim Mattis has told a hearing of the house armed services committee that the White House is still yet to make any decision on potential military attacks in Syria.
We have not yet made any decision to launch military attacks into Syria. When I leave here, I go to a meeting where the national security council will be meeting on this and we will take forward various options to the president.
Updated
Reuters reports that Syria’s UN ambassador, Bashar Ja’afari, has said it will facilitate a visit by international chemical weapons inspectors “at any point they want” in the town where a suspected gas attack occurred last weekend.
Ja’afari said an inspection team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was on its way to Damascus and that any delay would be as a result of “political pressure” from western countries. He denied his government had used the chemical weapon.
Updated
My colleague Mona Mahmood has been speaking to Syrians about the possibility of further intervention by Western states.
Yousif Homms, 23, is a former resident of eastern Ghouta, a Damascus suburb, now living and working in Istanbul.
The US administration have been repeating its threats against the Syrian regime for more than six years but nothing has been done changed on the ground changed. Last year, the US administration fired a few rockets against a specific targets in Khan Sheikhoun, however, the result was absolutely unrecognisable.
I hope the US attacks would target all the Syrian air bases to paralyse Syrian airforce and halt the shelling against Syrian cities. One of the target should be the presidential palace in Damascus, as well as sites of senior officials work with the regime.
I believe that the Syrian cause now is not in the hand of the Syrian regime but in Russian leadership and Iranian regime. The Russians themselves are negotiating with the rebels to leave their positions, not the Syrian regime.
The Syrian crisis now is bigger than the Syrians themselves, we are like chess pawns moved by the Russians and Iranians. If the international community can force these two states out of Syria, toppling the regime would be much easier, otherwise, it is an international war between US and its supporters and Russia, Iran and China.
I can’t wait to see the liberation of Syria and return home with my family but I do not want the Iraqi liberation example to be implemented in Syria. US airstrikes would be more effective and successful in Syria, they will spare the lives of the thousands of civilians who might be killed by US land attack.
I’m with the change of the regime without making the civilians pay the price for that. Syria has no infra structure already and a total US attack would cause unprecedented disaster.
Cabinet ministers are now inside Downing Street, called back from their Easter break for an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss “next steps” for intervention. We’re told it’s expected to last around an hour.
Updated
Protests interrupt start of Mike Pompeo's Senate hearing
Over in Washington, protesters are interrupting the start of Mike Pompeo’s Senate hearing to be Donald Trump’s next secretary of state. Pompeo, the hawkish director of the CIA, has declared that years of soft US policy towards Russia are over and vowed to promote democracy and human rights.
The protesters chanted “No Pompeo” and “No more war” and one interrupted Republican senator Pat Roberts’ opening statement, Reuters reports. The protesters appear to be associated with the Code Pink movement. Senate foreign relations committee chairman Bob Corker is warning there may be arrests if protesters are disruptive.
The interruptions come as Pompeo’s hearing to be top diplomat gets underway. Senators are expected to question him for many hours throughout the day. Just before the hearing, Donald Trump wished Pompeo good luck on Twitter. “He will be a great Secretary of State,” Trump tweeted.
Pompeo’s questioning by senators comes amid spiralling tensions between the US and Russia over Syria and China over trade, concerns about the planned summit between Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and uncertainty over the administration’s international agenda.
UNA-UK, the policy authority on the United Nations in the UK, has said it does not believe military strikes would meet the tests of reducing the likelihood of another chemical weapons attack or desecalating the conflict.
The body said efforts by the UK, France and the US to secure a United Nations resolution in favour of action should still be sought, even if the resolution was ultimately vetoed by Russia, in order to be seen as acting in good faith.
It would also help to establish global political opinion on the potential use of force. A vote of 14-1 in favour of action (or, more likely, 12-3) would signal that the wider international community considered the action to be “illegal but justified” (the term used by the Independent International Commission on Kosovo regarding NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign).
However, UNA-UK said it was clear that the “compulsion to act is strong” and that the international community had thus far failed to prevent escalation or the use of chemical weapons.
Ensuring that their use remains taboo is crucial in preventing further loss of life and suffering, and in upholding our hard-won rules-based international system.
However, it said, any action taken by the United Kingdom, or any other power, must be placed within the context of the wider civil war in Syria. Given the presence of major powers and regional actors on the ground, the prospect of escalation was a concern, the statement said.
UNA-UK does not believe that hasty recourse to military strikes meets these tests at present. We are concerned that, once again, the responsibility to protect is being reduced to military intervention before other possible courses of action have been considered.
Russia must not be allowed to claim that a proper investigation was impeded by strikes and that it it is therefore not possible to say what happened.
Labour seeking security briefing on Syria
The Guardian understands Jeremy Corbyn has requested a security briefing as leader of the opposition, on privy council terms.
Privy council terms are used for briefing opposition leaders, for example, on matters of national security, where it important they have access to similar information to the government, in order to allow them to make informed judgments.
Tony Blair used those terms to brief then-Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith and Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy ahead of presenting his dossier on Iraq.
Updated
The US is not tactically prepared to back up president’s bellicose language with US firepower.
Crucially, there is currently no US aircraft carrier strike force in the region. This is significant as the Pentagon is likely to prefer to rely on ship-launched cruise missiles against a Syrian airspace heavily defended by recently installed Russian anti-aircraft missile systems.
Tehran has said that it will stand by Bashar al-Assad in the event of a US-led strike, as a senior adviser to the Iranian supreme leader met the Syrian president in Damascus on Thursday.
Ali Akbar Velayati, a top foreign policy aide to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, visited eastern Ghouta earlier in the week and rejected claims that the Syrian government was behind Saturday’s suspected chemical attack in the town of Douma.
Velayati met Assad in a show of defiance in the face of possible western retaliation for the attack. “Like before, Iran will stand by Syria under any circumstances,” he said, according to Iran’s state Irna news agency.
“For seven years, an all-out war has been waged against the Syrian nation and its government led directly by the US. Syria is not weaker than seven years ago, nor is America any stronger,” he said, according to separate quotes carried by the semi-official Fars news agency, which is affiliated to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
“Trump took stances in the immediate aftermath of his election that caught many by surprise, but now those stances are an object of ridicule.”
AFP has a quick take of that ongoing press conference at Russia’s foreign minister.
Moscow on called on the West to “seriously consider” the consequences of threats against Syria after the US and France said they would respond to an alleged chemical attack.
“We call upon... members of the international community to seriously consider the possible consequences of such accusations, threats and especially action (against Syria),” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
“Nobody has authorised Western leaders to take on the role of global police - simultaneously investigator, prosecution, judge and executor,” she said during a press briefing.
“Our position is perfectly clear and defined. We are not seeking escalation.”
Judi Arsh, a 24-year-old former resident Homs who fled to the Aleppo countryside with her family last year, is sceptical that Trump will launch an attack against the Assad regime.
Speaking to the Guardian she said:
I’m not that hopeful of Trump’s threats against the Syrian regime. I’ve heard a lot of such statements but the result is always disappointing. We want an effective attack that can topple the regime and allow all Syrian people who were forced to flee their homes and live in camps to return home.
We want the US to put an end to the Russian and Iranian forces crimes in Syria. A couple of rockets here or there won’t pose any threat to the regime or change the disastrous
situation in Syria. But it might compound the dilemma of the Syrian people because the regime would respond with cruelty against civilians.
The regime is sending most of the locals in Douma to the Aleppo countryside and Idlib.
Most of the people here in Aleppo countryside are praying for some sort of a solution for their endless suffering, we can’t stand all this pressure any more.
We want a painful and fatal attack against the Syrian regime that can bring a fundamental change and put an end of the Syrian tragedy.
Whatever Trump is doing or stating, he must do better than Obama who did not lift a finger to help the Syrian people.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogăn has made that call to Vladimir Putin, a Turkish presidential source told Reuters.
They discussed developments in Syria and agreed to remain in close contact.
The call with Putin came after Erdogăn earlier spoke to Donald Trump on the phone and also exchanged views on Syria.
On the Skripal case Zakharova accuses the UK of launching a propaganda campaign against Russia. She says there are discrepancies and false claims in the UK’s version of events.
Moscow has been isolated from the investigation into the Salisbury incident, Zakharova said. She points out that no images have been released of the Skripals since the incident, in contrast to the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.
The pro-Kremlin RT is providing a translated live stream of a press briefing by Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
🔴Maria #Zakharova holds weekly press briefinghttps://t.co/0BJgabgwMT
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) April 12, 2018
She says the world should think seriously of the possible consequences of threats against Syria.
She says any attack against Syria would be “reckless”.
She also questioned World Health Organisation reports that 500 people were the injured in the chemical attack in Douma. She urged the WHO to show impartiality and noted it did not name where victims had been treated.
#Zakharova: On April 11, @WHO posted a statement on the “suspected use of toxic chemicals in Douma city, East Ghouta.” The bulk of information at its disposal was provided by the notorious White Helmets and the Syrian American Medical Society pic.twitter.com/GA0CsNrWpO
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) April 12, 2018
Updated
AFP has more on France’s claim about Syria’s responsibility for the chemical attack on Douma last weekend.
French President Emmanuel Macron saidthat he had “proof” that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons and would announce his response “in due course”.
“We have proof that chemical weapons were used last week, at least chlorine, and that they were used by the regime of Bashar al-Assad,” Macron said during an interview on France’s TF1 television.
Macron added that he was in daily contact with US President Donald Trump and that “we will have decisions to take in due course, when we judge it to be the most useful and the most effective.”
The French leader, who had made the use of chemical weapons in Syria a “red line”, said one of his aims in Syria was to “remove the regime’s chemical attack capabilities”.
But he repeated that he wanted to also avoid “an escalation”.
“France will in no way allow an escalation or anything that would harm regional stability, but we cannot allow regimes that believe they can act with impunity to violate international law in the worst possible way.”
Nous avons la preuve que des armes chimiques ont été utilisées par le régime de Bachar el-Assad. #EMacronTF1 pic.twitter.com/CaJJ19wdOp
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) April 12, 2018
Updated
Ken Clarke, former chancellor and father of the House of Commons, has said parliament should be recalled this weekend if the cabinet backs military intervention in Syria.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme he said: “In a modern parliamentary democracy you’ve got to have parliamentary approval if you have a planned policy decision to launch a military attack.”
The Tory grandee said he would back targeted strikes but only after a debate in parliament. He said: “The government must get approval for such an important policy before it acts. As it happens they would get my support for a proportionate well-targeted attack that was hitting some significant facilities that were associated with the use of chemical weapons. If we don’t do that then Assad keeps trying his hand and he will feel uninhibited.”
On the timing of the recall he said:
Donald Trump’s tweet yesterday seemed to make it absolutely clear that military action is about to take place. We could have started recalling Parliament then. If the cabinet this afternoon decides it is going to take part in military action, I think we could meet on Saturday. I’d miss my football match but I think these are very important matters. You don’t just waive aside accountability to parliament because it is inconvenient. Saturday or Sunday you could sit.
OPCW executive to meet next week
The OPCW’s executive council will meet next Wednesday following a request by the UK government.
The 59th Meeting of #OPCW's Executive Council (ECM-59) will take place on Wednesday 18 April. See public documents and statements (as available) here: https://t.co/FC6r8vIkUS pic.twitter.com/EpTsfeAfEL
— OPCW (@OPCW) April 12, 2018
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson announced the request after the publication of the OPCW’s executive summary about the Salisbury poisoning.
He said: “In the interest of transparency, and because unlike the Russians we have nothing to hide, we have asked the OPCW to publish the executive summary for all to see and to circulate the full report to all state parties of the OPCW, including Russia.”
Germany will not join any military strikes against the Syrian government in, but supports Western efforts to show that the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable, Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
“Germany will not take part in possible - there have not been any decisions yet, I want to stress that - military action,” she said after meeting Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Berlin.
“But we support everything that is being done to show that the use of chemical weapons is not acceptable,” she added.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has cancelled a planned joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Mass in Oxford this afternoon.
The two men are meeting in the city and had been due to speak to journalists.
Updated
Summary
Here’s what we know so far:
- Fears of a military confrontation between Russia and the West over Syria remain high, but Donald Trump has dialled down his rhetoric on the imminence of airstrikes against the Assad regime. “Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!” the president said in his latest early morning tweet.
- A “deconfliction” telephone line for Syria between Russia and the US is being used by both sides, the Kremlin has said. “The line is used and it is active. In general the line is used by both sides,” the Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.
- Jeremy Corbyn has urged the UK not to join any US-led action against Syria. “More bombing, more killing, more war will not save life” , he said and urged Theresa May to consult MPs and give evidence about the advantages and perils of intervention.
- David Davis has said he has been given reassurance over the doubts about military action in Syria that led him to vote against David Cameron’s proposals in 2013. “I’m assured we’re going to answer today,” he said.
- Theresa May has summoned an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss possible military options against Syria. She insisted that chemical weapons attacks on Douma “cannot go unchallenged”.
- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned that threats of Western military action would only lead to further chaos. “These voices, and any possible actions, will only contribute to further destabilisation in the region,” he said on social media.
- The UK’s claims about the type of nerve agent used to poison Russian double agent Sergeir Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury have been upheld by OPCW. An executive summary published by OPCW did not mention novichok but noted that the chemical used was of “high purity”. The chemical involved was named in the full unpublished report.
- Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson welcomed the report and called on the Kremlin to provide answers at a session of the OPCW executive council next week. He repeated the UK’s claim that Russia was responsible. “Only Russia has the means, motive and record,” he said.
-
The director of the UK surveillance agency GCHQ, Jeremy Fleming, has accused Russia of being behind the nerve agent attack in Salisbury. “It demonstrates how reckless Russia is prepared to be, how little the Kremlin cares of the rules-based order, how comfortable they are at putting ordinary lives at risk,” he said.
Updated
Britain’s claims about the type of nerve agent used to poison the Russian double agent Sergeir Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury have been upheld by the UN’s Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The findings issued by the OPCW in the Hague will be a major relief to the UK that claimed its tests showed that a military grade nerve agent had been used.
The OPCW in executive summary states an analysis of samples collected after the Salisbury nerve agent attack confirm the findings of the British laboratories “relating to the identity of the toxic chemical” used in the incident.
The OPCW noted that the chemical was of “high purity” with an “almost complete absence” of any impurities.
The precise identity of the nerve agent was kept classified, but made available to state parties to the OPCW. As a result there is no published reference to the nerve agent novichok.
The findings were welcomed by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
The OPCW statement appears to express confidence in the chain of control for the substance so ruling out any tampering by British, one of the accusations made by Russia. It states : “The team was able to collect blood samples from the three affected individuals under full chain of custody for delivery to the OPCW laboratory and subsequent analysis by OPCW designated laboratories, and conducted identification of the three individuals against official photo-ID documents.”
The OPCW technical secretariat based in the Hague privately handed its report to British officials on Wednesday. It was for the UK to decide whether, and how much of the report to publish.
The OPCW does not have the power to identify the source of nerve agent, but merely to spell out the chemical properties of the agent, leading others to conclude whether any country other than Russia could have been capable of producing the agent. It is standard OPCW procedure not to identify the laboratories involved in testing the samples, but it draws from a multilaterally agreed list of labs.
Russia at a special meeting of the OPCW executive last week lost a vote demanding that Russia be involved jointly in testing the sample. The Russian embassy in London said last week “It will accept results of the OPCW Salisbury poisoning investigation only if Russian experts participate in it”.
Updated
OPCW full text on Salisbury incident
Here’s the full text of the OPCW’s executive summary report on the Salisbury attack. Note that it doesn’t mention novichok but suggests the full report does, and there is also no mention of Russia.
1. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland requested technical assistance from the OPCW Technical Secretariat (hereinafter “the Secretariat”) under subparagraph 38(e) of Article VIII of the Chemical Weapons Convention in relation to an incident in Salisbury on 4 March 2018 involving a toxic chemical—allegedly a nerve agent—and the poisoning and hospitalisation of three individuals. The Director-General decided to dispatch a team to the United Kingdom for a technical assistance visit (TAV).
2. The TAV team deployed to the United Kingdom on 19 March for a pre-deployment and from 21 March to 23 March for a full deployment.
3. The team received information on the medical conditions of the affected individuals, Mr Sergej Skripal, Ms Yulia Skripal, and Mr Nicholas Bailey. This included information on their acetylcholinesterase status since hospitalisation, as well as information on the treatment regime.
4. The team was able to collect blood samples from the three affected individuals under full chain of custody for delivery to the OPCW Laboratory and subsequent analysis by OPCW designated laboratories, and conducted identification of the three individuals against official photo-ID documents.
5. The team was able to conduct on-site sampling of environmental samples under full chain of custody at sites identified as possible hot-spots of residual contamination. Samples were returned to the OPCW Laboratory for subsequent analysis by OPCW designated laboratories.
6. The team requested and received splits of samples taken by British authorities for delivery to the OPCW Laboratory in Rijswijk, the Netherlands, and subsequent analysis by OPCW designated laboratories. This was done for comparative purposes and to verify the analysis of the United Kingdom.
7. The team was briefed on the identity of the toxic chemical identified by the United Kingdom and was able to review analytical results and data from chemical analysis of biomedical samples collected by the British authorities from the affected individuals, as well as from environmental samples collected on site. S/1612/2018 page 2
8. The results of analysis of biomedical samples conducted by OPCW designated laboratories demonstrate the exposure of the three hospitalised individuals to this toxic chemical.
9. The results of analysis of the environmental samples conducted by OPCW designated laboratories demonstrate the presence of this toxic chemical in the samples.
10. The results of analysis by the OPCW designated laboratories of environmental and biomedical samples collected by the OPCW team confirm the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical that was used in Salisbury and severely injured three people.
11. The TAV team notes that the toxic chemical was of high purity. The latter is concluded from the almost complete absence of impurities.
12. The name and structure of the identified toxic chemical are contained in the full classified report of the Secretariat, available to States Parties.
Boris Johnson has demanded answers from the Kremlin after OPCW backed the UK’s findings on the Salisbury attack.
In a statement he said:
Today the international chemical weapons watchdog have confirmed the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical used in the attempted assassination of Mr Skripal and his daughter, and which also resulted in the hospitalisation of a British police officer. That was a military grade nerve agent – a Novichok.
This is based on testing in four independent, highly reputable laboratories around the world. All returned the same conclusive results.
There can be no doubt what was used and there remains no alternative explanation about who was responsible – only Russia has the means, motive and record.
We invited the OPCW to test these samples to ensure strict adherence to international chemical weapons protocols. We have never doubted the analysis of our scientists at Porton Down.
In the interest of transparency, and because unlike the Russians we have nothing to hide, we have asked the OPCW to publish the executive summary for all to see and to circulate the full report to all state parties of the OPCW, including Russia.
We will now work tirelessly with our partners to help stamp out the grotesque use of weapons of this kind and we have called a session of the OPCW Executive Council next Wednesday to discuss next steps. The Kremlin must give answers.
We must, as a world community, stand up for the rules based order which keeps us all safe. The use of weapons of this kind can never be justified, and must be ended.
🔴 #OPCW issues report on technical assistance requested by the #UnitedKingdom #UK in regard to the #Salisbury incident on 4 March 2018. Find the executive summary here: https://t.co/N43P0trUiK pic.twitter.com/0LRNP7afza
— OPCW (@OPCW) April 12, 2018
Updated
The OPCW noted that the chemical was of “high purity” with an “almost complete absence” of any impurities, PA reports.
The findings were welcomed by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
He said:
“This is based on testing in four independent, highly reputable laboratories around the world. All returned the same conclusive results.
“There can be no doubt what was used and there remains no alternative explanation about who was responsible - only Russia has the means, motive and record.”
The OPCW was invited by the UK to carry out a technical investigation after Moscow strongly challenged its assertion that responsibility for the attack lay with the Kremlin.
French president Emmanuel Macron claims there is proof the Assad regime was behind the chemical attack on Douma.
A response will be taken at the right moment, he told French TV.
The remarks were made after Trump’s latest tweet, but as a direct reaction to it.
#Syria - Macron tells TV interviewer: "We have the proof that chemical weapons — at least chlorine gas — were used by Assad's regime".
— Angelique Chrisafis (@achrisafis) April 12, 2018
Says decision on France's response will be taken at the right moment, when it will be "most effective"
Updated
OPCW backs UK over Salisbury poisoning
The international chemical weapons watchdog has backed Britain’s findings as to the identity of the chemical used in the Salisbury nerve agent attack, PA reports.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said an analysis of samples taken from Sergei Skripal, his daughter, Yulia, and Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, confirmed the UK’s assessment.
The government has said that its analysis by military experts at Porton Down showed they were affected by Novichok - a military grade nerve agent developed by Russia.
But the executive summary released by the OPCW does not mention novichok by name.
It states: “The results of the analysis by the OPCW designated laboratories of environmental and biomedical samples collected by the OPCW team confirms the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical that was used in Salisbury and severely injured three people.”
Assad: 'Western military action will only further destabilise Syria'
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned that threats of Western military action in response to an alleged chemical attack would only lead to further chaos in the region, AFP writes.
“With every victory on the ground, some Western countries raise their voices and intensify their activities in an effort to change the trajectory of events,” said Assad.
“These voices, and any possible actions, will only contribute to further destabilisation in the region,” he said in comments posted on the Syrian presidency’s social media accounts.
Assad spoke during a meeting with Ali Akbar Velayati, foreign policy advisor to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other officials.
Assad and Velayati criticised Western threats to carry out strikes on Syria in response to the alleged use of toxic weapons at the weekend, the presidency said.
“The threats of some Western countries to attack Syria is based on lies that these countries fabricated along with terrorist organisations,” Assad’s office said.
Syrian troops have braced for Western strikes across the country, hiding assets and deserting key buildings.
Updated
It could be significant that Trump linked his latest tweet about the possibility of no attacks against Syria with an expression of good luck to his nominee for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo before he faces a confirmation hearing.
Good luck to Mike Pompeo during his Confirmation Hearing today. He will be a great Secretary of State!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2018
Politico has obtained the text of his prepared remarks to the committee in which he argues that he is unfairly cast as a military hawk.
It quotes Pompeo’s note saying:
“There are few who dread war more than those of us who have served in uniform. And there is a great deal of room between a military presence and war. War is always the last resort.”
Some initial reaction to Trump’s shifting stance on Syrian airstrikes.
I can understand why many are hoping for a US strike on Assad, but I remain sceptical. 1- possible backpedalling a la 2013 2- no strategic approach 3- Trump's thinking on Syria: I strike and then I leave eastern Syria. https://t.co/B83h6Aimdn
— Emile Hokayem اميل الحكيم (@emile_hokayem) April 12, 2018
Trump clearly reminded of his 2013 tweet on Syria: "In war, the elememt [sic] of surprise is sooooo important. What the hell is Obama doing." https://t.co/2d42KUap94
— George Eaton (@georgeeaton) April 12, 2018
Mmmm. Another day, another change of policy? The Russians/Syrians must be baffled. And the folks to thank are surely the men and women of the US and its allies who put their lives on the line to fight ISIS. https://t.co/CLrmunxbPo
— Andrew Neil (@afneil) April 12, 2018
Just like Theresa May, Trump always responds with ludicrous rhetoric in a desperate bid to look tough, criticises opponents for being “weak”..... and then slowly rows back 🚣♀️ pic.twitter.com/26rHdUOZ8K
— Matt Zarb-Cousin (@mattzarb) April 12, 2018
The Standard’s cartoon still applies:
Our @Adamstoon1 @EveningStandard as Trump goes to war pic.twitter.com/cD6meBRvgs
— George Osborne (@George_Osborne) April 12, 2018
Trump says no timetable for Syria attack
Trump is dialling down his bellicose rhetoric of Wednesday. In his latest tweet he claims an attack on Syria may not take place.
Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our “Thank you America?”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2018
Here’s what he said 23 hours ago.
Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018
Updated
Corbyn: 'more bombing will not save life'
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has condemned Donald Trump’s rhetoric on Syria as he continued to call for a parliamentary vote on any military intervention.
“More bombing, more killing, more war will not save life,” he told a local election event in Derby.
Asked about the US President’s tweet yesterday in which he said that “nice and new and ‘smart!”’ missiles would soon be fired toward Syria, Cobyn said:“I think the whole world should be alarmed at that sort of instant reaction - sending stuff out on social media to make policy.”
He added:
“What happened in Syria is disgraceful. Any use of chemical weapons by anybody against anybody else is clearly illegal as well as immoral and wrong.
“The United Nations has a duty and a function to ensure there’s a proper investigation undertaken as the inspectors are now in Douma doing just that and, when we’ve got the results of that, decide what action to take.
“But, I would just say this. Hundreds of thousands have died and lost their lives in Syria.
“Millions have been forced into refuge. Many are living in terrible poverty and desperation. There has to be a political solution.
“Russia, America, the European Union, all the neighbouring countries, Iran, Saudia Arabia have got to be involved in ensuring there is a real ceasefire and a political process that does give hope to the people of Syria in the future.
“More bombing, more killing, more war will not save life. It will just take more lives and spawn the war elsewhere.”
Meanwhile, another Tory backbencher Sir Edward Leigh, has expressed scepticism about such an attack.
We remember Iraq and WMDs. Government will need to present clear and informed case with conclusive evidence before launching military action in Syria — that's not a lot to ask for. #syria
— Sir Edward Leigh MP (@EdwardLeighMP) April 12, 2018
But dovish cabinet minster, David Davis, appears to back intervention.
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appears to be trying to avert an escalation of the conflict in Syria. He has already spoken to Trump and is planning to talk to Putin, according reports in the Turkish press.
#BREAKING: Turkey’s President Erdogan says he will speak with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as he did with #US President @realDonaldTrump on alleged chemical attacks in #Syria. pic.twitter.com/nW54SiY5TM
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) April 12, 2018
President @RT_Erdogan and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump talked about the latest developments in Syria in a phone call. https://t.co/anVNx8RIH9 pic.twitter.com/0QSyDweWiK
— Turkey PM Press&Info (@ByegmENG) April 12, 2018
Erdoğan and Putin share the aim of curbing US influence in the Middle East, according to The Guardian’s foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall.
The United States and Russia are in direct conversation to prevent a potential military clash in Syria, the Kremlin has said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov on Thursday confirmed to journalists that the two sides are using an “incident prevention” hotline ahead of an anticipated US military strike in Syria with likely support from France and the United Kingdom.
Asked on Thursday about the hotline, Peskov said: “The line exists and it is active.”
The hotline is used to prevent a direct clash between US and Russian troops in the crowded Syrian conflict, where Russia is backing the government and the United States supports some opposition forces.
Dozens of Russian mercenaries and other Assad supporters were killed earlier this year after an ill-fated assault on a Kurdish base backed by US airpower.
The deconfliction line between the US and Russian militaries was used during that clash.
Peskov sidestepped more detailed questions about the discussions over the expected US strike, saying just that “both lines are using the line.”
Update: Sky’s Alistair Bunkall says this is what the hotline looks like ...
This is the actual military hotline between US/coalition forces and Russia. I saw it at Al Udeid airbase in Qatar recently. Senior commanders speak to each other very regularly to discuss operations over Syria - is the channel still open? pic.twitter.com/MtBRuEHNuy
— Alistair Bunkall (@AliBunkallSKY) April 12, 2018
Updated
The OPCW has confirms it will issue an update on the Salisbury incident at 12.15pm UK time.
🔴 #OPCW to issue update on #Salisbury incident at 13:15 CET (UTC+2)
— OPCW (@OPCW) April 12, 2018
Meanwhile, the director of the UK surveillance agency GCHQ, Jeremy Fleming, has accused Russia of being reckless in mounting a nerve agent attack in Salisbury.
In his first public speech at a cybersecurity conference in Manchester, he went further than Theresa May in pinning the blame on the Kremlin.
Hinting at retaliatory action, he emphasised GCHQ was building a toolkit that included cyber-offensive capability as well as defence.
Fleming said the attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal was the first time nerve agents had been used in Europe since the second world war.
“It demonstrates how reckless Russia is prepared to be, how little the Kremlin cares of the rules-based order, how comfortable they are at putting ordinary lives at risk,” he said.
Russia has announced that control over the Damascus suburb of Douma, where the chemical attack took place, had been transferred to Syrian government forces.
Russian military police had also deployed in the town, Moscow said, as Russia prepared the ground for a delegation of specialists from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Russia’s military has already denied that soil samples or other tests revealed the use of chemical weapons.
Moscow and Western allies led by the United States voted against the other’s proposals in the United Nations Security Council this week for setting up a body dedicated to investigating repeated poison gas use in Syria.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called for the OPCW to deploy specialists before expected missile strike by US forces, possibly supported by France and the UK.
“Any delay in visiting the location of the alleged incident could lead to another reckless move of Washington, which already fired missiles on Syria’s Shayrat airbase in April 2017 in violation of the UN Charter and international law,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Yet there were already signs that Moscow was preparing for the missile strike.
Satellite images released by the Israeli company ImageSat International showed that Russian ships had deployed from Russia’s naval base at the Syrian city of Tartus.
Russian media, including the respected business daily Kommersant, reported on Thursday that Russian officials were in contact with the Pentagon over the coming strikes and expected to receive coordinates of the targets before the attack in order to prevent an accidental conflict.
'De-confliction' line on Syria in use by Russia and US
The Kremlin says a “de-confliction” telephone line for Syria between Russia and the US is active and is being used by both sides.
Asked #Kremlin spokesman if the deconfliction line was being used between Russian & US military in #Syria to avoid Rsn casualties in event of a strike. Peskov: ‘The line exists & it is active. I’m talking in general. The line is being used by both sides.‘ (interpet as you will)
— Sarah Rainsford (@sarahrainsford) April 12, 2018
Reuters quoted Peskov saying that it is extremely important to avoid any steps that could threaten to raise tensions. He also said Russia is closely following statements from Washington about Syria.
Tory MP John Redwood, who abstained in the vote to attack the Assad government in 2013, says he remains cautious about intervention.
No action is likely to have a good outcome, he tweeted.
How should the West respond to Syria? I trust the UK will be a sane voice wanting us to act effectively where we can, rather than demanding action to reveal our anger even if there is no action that is likely to have a good outcome.
— John Redwood (@johnredwood) April 12, 2018
The previously dovish Brexit secretary, David Davis, has hinted he backs military intervention in Syria ahead of this afternoon’s cabinet meeting.
NEW: Davis says in 2013 there was "not a proper plan thought through properly."
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) April 12, 2018
"Those two things I'm assured we're going to answer today," he says.
Theresa May has the backing of her most influential foreign policy backbencher to take part in any western strike against Syria without a Commons mandate.
Tom Tugendhat, chair of the foreign affairs select committee, insisted the prime minister had the right through the royal prerogative to make the decision without consulting parliament.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think that looking at what we’re doing is rather more important than looking at what Russia might do. What we’re doing is dealing with a violation of the 1925 Geneva gas protocol, and exercising the 2005 responsibility to protect.”
But a group of almost 40 prominent figures, including three Labour MPs, academics and actor Mark Rylance have written to the Guardian to warn that military intervention will only further suffering in Syria.
It said:
Britain voted to join the US in bombing Syria in 2015 and was involved in covert operations before that. Its interventions have killed many people, fuelled the cycle of violence and done nothing to bring peace. Rather than backing the gung-ho foreign policy of the most inflammatory and xenophobic US president in history, the UK government should be seeking political and diplomatic solutions to the tragic situation in Syria, and to avoid anything that can escalate further the conflict in the region.
The Russian Embassy in London continues to maintain that Yulia Skripal is being held against her will and have demanded proof that she if free.
A statement by her issued via Scotland Yard claimed she had refused an offer of consular assistance from the embassy.
But the embassy claims “the text has been composed in a special way so as to support official statements made by British authorities.”
It added: “The document only strengthens suspicions that we are dealing with a forcible isolation of the Russian citizen. If British authorities are interested in assuring the public that this is not the case, they must urgently provide tangible evidence that Yulia is alright and not deprived of her freedom.”
"Yulia Skripal statement" is carefully worded to support UK official narrative and to block Yulia from outside world https://t.co/1PxiAlvXM7 pic.twitter.com/X6BXMc1hPO
— Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) April 12, 2018
The UK’s former intelligence chief Sir John Sawers has backed retaliatory action against Syria’s suspected use of chemical weapons, but has criticised Donald Trump’s communication by tweet.
Sawers, who was head of MI6 from 2009 to 2014, said military action was needed to restore the international taboo against the use of chemical weapons.
But speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he said: “We need very clear communication. Not by tweet, and I don’t approve of what President Trump is doing, but his instincts on this that you do need to respond are basically right. The method of communicating with Moscow is not right.”
Sawers claimed last year’s ordered by Trump against the Shayrat airbase had failed to deter further chemical attacks.
“It is quite clear that the deterrent impact of that strike [last year on the Shayrat airbase] was insufficient, because the Syrians have gone ahead and done it again,” he said.
He added:
The strategy is not to change the course of events in Syria, the strategy is to restore the red lines against the use of chemical weapons.
The issue that faces western governments at the moment is whether we stand back and allow that [chemical attacks] to go ahead without any response, and just tolerate the use of chemical weapons, or if we try to restore the taboo against using chemical weapons which is enshrined in law, but now is being breached in practice.
Sawers claimed the the UK and US would go to “great lengths to avoid even inadvertently damaging Russian forces” in expected strikes against Syria in the coming days.
He added: “There is a risk in all military action, but equally there are risks in not taking military action. More people have been killed by they Syrian civil war, in which we didn’t intervene, than in the Iraqi war in which we did intervene.”
Sawers also accused the Kremlin of being behind the poisoning of the Skripals. He said:
President Putin has a world view where he feels that world is trying to bring him down. Of course many of this is prompted by his own actions, and Salisbury is an example, we don’t know exactly how it was approved in Russia, but it is an example of how Russian behaviour is obliging the west to push back against Russia.
The OPCW’s report on the Salisbury incident is due to published around noon.
The Foreign Office said it had asked the OPCW to release an executive summary of its findings at midday on Thursday.
It is expected to confirm, or deny, whether the poison involved was a novichok nerve agent.
Last week the chief executive of the UK government chemical weapons experts at Porton Down said its tests had shown the sample was of a military-grade nerve agent from the novichok family, but it was not possible to say whether it was of Russian origin.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had inaccurately claimed that Porton Down had told him Russia was definitely responsible for the attack.
The Foreign Office admitted it had earlier deleted a tweet making a similar inaccurate claim to Johnson.
Johnson is due to give press conference in Oxford at around 1.30pm on Thursday.
Russia claims Syria has retaken Eastern Ghouta
Russia says Syrian government forces have retaken Eastern Ghouta, where the alleged chemical attack took place on Saturday.
The Russian defence ministry said the Syrian regime flag was flying in Douma, AFP reports.
“Today a significant event in the history of Syria took place. The raising of a regime flag over a building in the town of Douma signified control over this town and consequently over Eastern Ghouta as a whole,” Major General Yury Yevtushenko, head of the Russian military’s centre for reconciliation in Syria, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
The Syrian government itself has yet to officially announce it has fully retaken Douma, which was the last part of the erstwhile rebel enclave on the eastern edge of Damascus to escape its control.
Russian television showed footage of the Syrian government’s red, white and black flag with two green stars hanging from an unidentified building, while cheering crowds waved flags in among shell-damaged buildings.
The Russian defence ministry also said its military police had begun patrolling Douma, after announcing their planned deployment the day before.
“From today, units of the Russian armed forces’ military police are working in the town of Douma. They are a guarantee of the observance of law and order in the town,” the defence ministry said in a statement, RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Russian military police has had a presence inside Douma this week as part of a deal with Jaish al-Islam, the Islamist group that controlled the area for years.
Several thousand of its fighters were still in Douma Thursday and there was no immediate confirmation that any regime forces had entered the city.
Summary
It threatens to be another day of increasing global tension with Russia over both the chemical attack in Douma, Syria and the poisoning of the Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is due to publish an executive summary on its tests on the poison used in the Salisbury incident, which the UK has already blamed on the Kremlin.
And Theresa May has called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the UK joining the US and France in possible military action against Russia’s ally Syria without consulting parliament.
She insisted that the chemical weapons attack on Douma on Saturday “cannot go unchallenged”.
On Wednesday Donald Trump fired off an incendiary tweet that told Moscow to “get ready” for incoming US missiles, which the Russian military has vowed to shoot down.
Meanwhile, polling by YouGov for the Times shows that only 22% of the British public support strikes against Syria and 43% are opposed.
Just 22% back British airstrikes in Syria@MattChorley's Red Box email is out now https://t.co/sdZaLvDvzu pic.twitter.com/5FpnS1aemp
— Red Box (@timesredbox) April 12, 2018
Updated
