French tests confirm use of sarin in Syria

France said it was certain that the nerve agent sarin had been used in Syria on several occasions following tests it carried out on samples.

“These tests show the presence of sarin in various samples in our possession,” foreign minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement, adding that the test results had been handed to the United Nations.

UN investigators said they had “reasonable grounds” to believe that limited amounts of chemical weapons had been used in Syria in a conflict where brutality was now a tactic of war.

In its latest report, human rights investigators said they had received allegations that Syrian government forces and rebels had used the banned weapons, but most testimony related to their use by forces loyal to president Bashar al-Assad.

Increasing reports from the battlefield of the use of chemical weapons have sounded alarm bells in the West.

US secretary of state John Kerry said last week that the use of chemical weapons was unacceptable.

In Syria, Qusair came under renewed missile attack as fighting there dragged into its third week, prompting calls for humanitarian access to offer some relief to the thousands trapped in the city under siege by government forces.

Those hoping to save themselves were faced with the agonising choice of digging holes in the ground to escape the bombing or embarking on a perilous cross-country trek to neighbouring Lebanon.

The UN commission said it examined four reported toxic attacks in Syria in March and April but could not determine which side was behind them.

“There are reasonable grounds to believe that limited quantities of toxic chemicals were used. It has not been possible, on the evidence available, to determine the precise chemical agents used, their delivery systems or the perpetrator,” Paulo Pinheiro, who chairs the UN commission of inquiry, told a news conference in Geneva.

“The witnesses that we have interviewed include victims, refugees who fled some areas, and medical staff,” Pinheiro said, declining to be more specific for reasons of confidentiality.

Syria’s ambassador, Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, in a debate at the UN Human Rights Council , questioned the “neutrality and professionalism” of the panel.

Reuters