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Assad forces used chemical weapons - White House US says it will give military aid to Syria rebels
(about 3 hours later)
Syrian forces under President Bashar al-Assad have used chemical weapons "on a small scale" against the opposition rebels, the White House has said. The US is to supply direct military aid to the Syrian opposition for the first time, the White House has announced.
A senior aide to President Barack Obama said the US estimated 100-150 people had died in "multiple" attacks. President Obama made the decision after his administration concluded Syrian forces under Bashar al-Assad were using chemical weapons, a spokesman said.
Ben Rhodes said the US president had decided to provide unspecified "military support" to the opposition. Ben Rhodes did not give details about the military aid other than to say it would be "different in scope and scale to what we have provided before".
The White House had previously warned that the US considered the use of such weapons to be crossing a "red line". The US had warned any use of chemical weapons would cross a "red line".
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says the US announcement is one that the Syrian opposition has been pushing and praying for for months.
It seems clear that President Obama has finally been persuaded, as Britain and France have argued, that the battlefield cannot be allowed to tilt strongly in the regime's favour, as is currently happening, he adds.
The White House announcement came on the same day the United Nations said the number of those killed in the Syrian conflict had risen to more than 93,000 people.
'High confidence''High confidence'
Mr Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to Mr Obama, said the US had no "reliable" evidence the opposition had used chemical weapons. Mr Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to Mr Obama, said the US intelligence community believed the "Assad regime has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale against the opposition multiple times over the last year."
The White House announcement came the same day the United Nations said the number of those killed in the Syrian conflict had risen to more than 93,000 people. He said intelligence officials had a "high confidence" in their assessment and also estimated that 100 to 150 people had died from chemical weapons attacks.
"The president has been clear that the use of chemical weapons - or the transfer of chemical weapons to terrorist groups - is a red line for the US," Mr Rhodes said. "We have consistently said the use of chemical weapons violates international norms and crosses red lines that have existed in the international community for decades." Mr Rhodes said.
"Our intelligence community now has a high confidence assessment that chemical weapons have been used on a small scale by the Assad regime in Syria. The president has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has." Mr Rhodes said the president had made the decision to increase assistance, including "military support", to the Supreme Military Council (SMC) and Syrian Opposition Coalition.
Mr Rhodes said the president had made the decision to increase assistance, including "military support", to the rebels. He did not give details of the aid, but the New York Times quoted US officials as saying that Washington could provide small arms and ammunition as well as anti-tank weapons.
But he declined to specify what that would entail, other than to say it would be "different in scope and scale to what we have provided before". The Wall Street Journal was told by officials that the US proposal called for a limited no-fly zone inside Syria, enforced by US and allied planes on Jordanian territory.
The White House hopes the increased support will bolster the effectiveness and legitimacy of both the political and military arms of Syria's rebels, he said. Asked whether Mr Obama would back a no-fly zone over Syria, Mr Rhodes said one would not make a "huge difference" on the ground - but would be costly.
He said the aid would benefit the Supreme Military Council (SMC) and Syrian Opposition Coalition, and said the US was "comfortable" working with SMC chief Gen Salim Idris. He said further actions would be taken "on our own timeline."
Mr Rhodes said the White House hoped the increased support would bolster the effectiveness and legitimacy of both the political and military arms of Syria's rebels, and said the US was "comfortable" working with SMC chief Gen Salim Idris.
"It's been important to work through them while aiming to isolate some of the more extremist elements of the opposition, such as al-Nusra," he said."It's been important to work through them while aiming to isolate some of the more extremist elements of the opposition, such as al-Nusra," he said.
The sense of urgency in Washington had been growing as Hezbollah and Iran have increased their own involvement in the conflict, Mr Rhodes said. A senior pro-Kremlin politician in Russia - an ally of Syria - said US claims of the Assad government's use of chemical weapons were "fabricated".
The British and French leaders have long argued that President Assad must be made to realise that he cannot secure a military victory against his opponents and must be forced to the negotiating table, the BBC's Nick Robinson says. Likening it to when the US wrongly claimed Saddam Hussein held chemical weapons in Iraq, Alexei Pushkov, head of lower house of parliament foreign affairs committee, tweeted: "Obama is taking the same path as George Bush."
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, who held talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday, said: "We will have to be prepared to do more to save lives, to pressure the Assad regime to negotiate seriously." 'Long overdue'
'Calculus changed' The US decision marks a significant escalation of the proxy war that has been gathering pace in Syria, our Beirut correspondent says.
The White House announcement immediately shook up the ongoing debate in Washington DC over whether - and how - the US should provide assistance to the rebels. The support of the West's regional allies, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, had helped the rebels in the days after the uprising became militarised.
But the tide turned after the Assad government turned to Moscow and Tehran for help. Hezbollah fighters have also been involved in the government's counter-offensive.
Now the West is lining up to try and help the rebels, but that is likely to take many months with more bloodshed and destruction, our correspondent adds.
UK and French leaders have long argued that President Bashar al-Assad must be made to realise that he cannot secure a military victory against his opponents and must be forced to the negotiating table, according to BBC political editor Nick Robinson.
The White House announcement immediately shook up the ongoing debate in Washington DC over how the US might provide assistance to the rebels.
Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who have been particularly strident in their calls for military aid, said the finding must change US policy in Syria. They called for further action, saying US credibility was on the line.Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who have been particularly strident in their calls for military aid, said the finding must change US policy in Syria. They called for further action, saying US credibility was on the line.
"A decision to provide lethal assistance, especially ammunition and heavy weapons, to opposition forces in Syria is long overdue, and we hope the president will take this urgently needed step," they said in a joint statement."A decision to provide lethal assistance, especially ammunition and heavy weapons, to opposition forces in Syria is long overdue, and we hope the president will take this urgently needed step," they said in a joint statement.
"But providing arms alone is not sufficient. The president must rally an international coalition to take military actions to degrade Assad's ability to use airpower and ballistic missiles and to move and resupply his forces around the battlefield by air.""But providing arms alone is not sufficient. The president must rally an international coalition to take military actions to degrade Assad's ability to use airpower and ballistic missiles and to move and resupply his forces around the battlefield by air."
A UN report released on Thursday found at least 5,000 people have been dying in Syria every month since last July, with 30,000 killed since November.A UN report released on Thursday found at least 5,000 people have been dying in Syria every month since last July, with 30,000 killed since November.
Incomplete death toll
More than 80% of those killed were men, but the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) says it has also documented the deaths of more than 1,700 children under the age of 10.More than 80% of those killed were men, but the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) says it has also documented the deaths of more than 1,700 children under the age of 10.
On Thursday, Mr Rhodes said US intelligence agencies had concluded Mr Assad's forces had used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, based on battlefield reports, "descriptions of physiological symptoms" from alleged victims, and laboratory analysis of samples obtained from alleged victims.
However, the full number killed by chemical weapons was "likely incomplete", Mr Rhodes said.
Asked whether Mr Obama would back a no-fly zone over Syria, Mr Rhodes said one would not make a "huge difference" on the ground - but would be costly.
He said further actions would be taken "on our own timeline."