- Title: EGYPT: Arab League blames Syria's Assad for chemical attack
- Date: 27th August 2013
- Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (AUGUST 27, 2013) (REUTERS) NASEEF HATY, SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ARAB LEAGUE, WALKING TOWARDS MICROPHONE JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ARAB LEAGUE, NASEEF HATY, SAYING: "We place full responsibility on the Syrian regime over this horrid crime, and we call for all perpetrators of this crime
- Embargoed: 11th September 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Egypt
- Country: Egypt
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVAACL9B0C3HI4EI1025M98XPVR1
- Story Text: The Arab League squarely blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday (August 27) for a gas attack near Damascus and urged the U.N. Security Council to act, providing what diplomatic sources said was political cover for a possible U.S. strike.
The Arab League's statement, issued after an emergency meeting, made no mention of military action. But it accused Assad of genocide and demanded, in unusually strong language, that the perpetrators of last week's poison gas attack, in which hundreds of civilians were killed, face justice.
"We place full responsibility on the Syrian regime over this horrid crime, and we call for all perpetrators of this crime to be tried in international courts for war crimes," spokesman Naseef Haty told journalists.
He also said the Syria crisis should be solved politically, not by military force.
"We believe since day one that the solution for the Syrian crisis is within a political framework and not a military solution. Today we discussed the horrid crime that was committed and we call for the perpetrators to be put before international institutions responsible for dealing with such crimes."
Diplomatic sources said the Arab League statement had been pushed through by the Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia and Qatar, in the knowledge that air strikes were being discussed.
The two countries have been among the most ardent backers of Syria's rebels and have pressed for firmer action against Assad.
Syria's civil war has split the region broadly along sectarian lines. Shi'ite Muslim Iran, and its allies in Lebanon and Iraq, have supported Assad. The Gulf Arab states have backed the mainly Sunni Muslim rebels, many of whom are Islamist militants.
Iraq and Lebanon, as well as Algeria, withheld their backing for the Arab League statement or parts of it on Tuesday, as they have done in the past. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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