Syria Crisis: UN confirms the use of chemical weapons

Attributing blame to nobody, a UN report has confirmed that sarin was used in Damascus last month killing dozens of civilians.

08:54 17 September 2013

A UN report has confirmed what the US and France have been thinking all along; chemical weapons were used in August 21 at Damascus resulting to the death of dozens of civilians.

UN Secretary Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "The mission has concluded that chemical weapons were used on a relatively large scale in the Ghouta area of Damascus [on 21 August]... The attack resulted in numerous casualties, particularly among civilians."

"Survivors reported that following an attack with shelling, they quickly experienced a range of symptoms, including shortness of breath, disorientation, eye irritation, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting and general weakness.”

"Many eventually lost consciousness. First responders described seeing a large number of individuals lying on the ground, many of them dead or unconscious."

Although pointing blame was not part of the report, US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, said: "The technical details make it clear that only the regime could have carried out this large-scale attack."

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague confirms this by saying: "Syrian regime is the only party that could have been responsible".