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America is remembering the victims of the 9/11 attacks in a series of memorials marking the 12th anniversary.
The 9/11 attacks killed 2,977 people in New York, the Washington DC area and Pennsylvania.
In New York, families of the victims read the names of each person who died at the World Trade Center.
President Barack Obama was set to attend a memorial outside the Pentagon, but no speeches have been planned by politicians.
The attacks led to a long war in Afghanistan and created an expansion of government surveillance powers that have recently been the subject of intense debate.
A separate memorial was held outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, honoring the passengers and crew of United Flight 93. They struggled with the hijackers of the plane, preventing it from hitting its intended target, believed to be the White House or the US Capitol building.
All 33 passengers and seven crew members on the flight were killed after the plane crashed into a field about 75 miles south-east of Pittsburgh.
“No matter how many years pass, this time comes around each year, and it’s always the same,” Karen Hinson, who lost her brother, Michael Wittenstein, in New York, told the Associated Press news agency. His body was never found.
America is remembering the victims of the 9-11 attacks in a series of memorials marking the 12th anniversary
More than 1,000 people gathered on Wednesday at the National September 11 memorial plaza in New York City to read the names of all those killed in the 2001 and 1993 attacks on the building.
Bagpipes and a youth choir began the proceedings, held around two reflecting pools that stand in the footprint of the destroyed towers.
“To my nephew Michael Joseph Mullin, we miss you and think of you every single day,” said one of the 250 people chosen to read names, many of them family members of the victims.
“You’re gone but not forgotten,” another woman said of her lost cousin.
The reading was paused for several moments of silence, including 8:46 local time, when the first plane hit the North Tower; when the second plane hit the South Tower; when each building fell; and when the third and fourth planes hit the Pentagon and the field outside Shanksville.
A number of other cities held memorial services on Wednesday.
Builders are meanwhile putting the finishing touches to the new World Trade Center tower and a museum dedicated to the attacks.
One World Trade Center is now the tallest building in the Western hemisphere, its spire reaching to 1,776ft, a symbolic number alluding to the year of the US Declaration of Independence.
On Tuesday, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for what will be a visitor centre on the site of the Flight 93 national memorial park.
The building, expected to open in late 2015, will be broken in two where the plane flew overhead. Visitors have already left 35,000 tributes at the site.
Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks, in which 19 hijackers also died when they seized control of four planes, crashing three of them into their intended targets.
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Russia has handed over to the US its plans for making Syria’s chemical weapons safe, Russian media say.
Russia announced its plans for placing Syria’s stockpile under international control on Monday and Syria said it welcomed the initiative.
The proposal led US President Barack Obama to put military action against Syria on hold in favor of diplomacy.
Tense negotiations will now follow at the United Nations on the nature of any Security Council resolution.
The UN envoys of the permanent council members – the UK, US, France, China and Russia – will meet in New York later on Wednesday, diplomats say.
More than 100,000 people have died since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011.
Russia has handed over to the US its plans for making Syria’s chemical weapons safe
Russian news agencies quoted one Russian source as saying: “We handed over to the Americans a plan to place chemical weapons in Syria under international control. We expect to discuss it in Geneva.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry are scheduled to meet in the Swiss city on Thursday to discuss the proposal.
One Russian source told the Itar-Tass news agency the meeting would be bilateral and not involve the UN.
The source added: “It appears that the meeting should start on Thursday and end on Friday, although it is not ruled out that it may last until Saturday.”
No further details of the proposal have been made public.
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President Barack Obama says he will pursue diplomatic efforts to remove Syria’s chemical weapons but has ordered the US military to “be in a position to respond” if such measures fail.
In a televised address, Barack Obama said he had asked Congress to postpone a vote authorizing the use of force.
The US has threatened air strikes after a chemical weapons attack killed hundreds in Damascus last month.
Russia has proposed such weapons be placed under international control.
Although Syrian officials have agreed in principle, the US and its allies remain skeptical.
The Russian plan triggered a day of diplomatic wrangling at the UN on Tuesday.
Speaking from the White House, President Barack Obama said his administration had long resisted calls for military action in Syria because he did not believe that force could solve the civil war.
But he said he changed his mind after the chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs on August 21.
“The images from this massacre are sickening,” he said.
“On that terrible night, the world saw in gruesome detail the terrible nature of chemical weapons and why the overwhelming majority of humanity has declared them off limits, a crime against humanity and a violation of the laws of war.”
The Syrian government has strongly denied carrying out the attack and instead blamed rebels trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
However, Barack Obama said the US “knew” the Assad regime was to blame.
Barack Obama says he will pursue diplomatic efforts to remove Syria’s chemical weapons
“We know that Assad’s chemical weapons personnel prepared for an attack near an area where they mix sarin gas,” he said.
“They distributed gas masks to their troops. Then they fired rockets from a regime-controlled area into 11 neighborhoods that the regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces.”
Barack Obama said that such an attack was not only a violation of international law it was also a danger to US national security.
“As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas and using them,” he said.
He said that “after careful deliberation” he had decided to respond to the use of chemical weapons through “a targeted military strike”.
“The purpose of this strike would be to deter Assad from using chemical weapons, to degrade his regime’s ability to use them and to make clear to the world that we will not tolerate their use. That’s my judgment as commander in chief.”
However, Barack Obama said he would not “put American boots on the ground in Syria” or pursue open-ended action such as that in Iraq or Afghanistan.
He added: “Others have asked whether it’s worth acting if we don’t take out Assad. As some members of Congress have said, there’s no point in simply doing a pinprick strike in Syria. Let me make something clear: The United States military doesn’t do pinpricks.”
President Barack Obama said he welcomed Russia’s proposal as an alternative to military action, but added: “It’s too early to tell whether this offer will succeed.
“Any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force.”
Barack Obama said he had therefore asked the leaders of Congress to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force “while we pursue this diplomatic path”.
He confirmed earlier reports that US Secretary of State John Kerry would meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Thursday, adding: “I will continue my own discussions with President [Vladimir] Putin.”
“I’ve spoken to the leaders of two of our closest allies, France and the United Kingdom. And we will work together in consultation with Russia and China to put forward a resolution at the UN Security Council requiring Assad to give up his chemical weapons and to ultimately destroy them under international control.”
He added: “Meanwhile, I’ve ordered our military to maintain their current posture, to keep the pressure on Assad and to be in a position to respond if diplomacy fails.”
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President Barack Obama has said he will put plans for a military strike against Syria on hold if the country agrees to place its chemical weapons stockpile under international control.
However, the US president said he was skeptical the Syrian government would follow through.
As the US Congress debates authorizing an attack, Russia on Monday proposed Syria relinquish its chemical weapons.
The US accuses Damascus of war crimes including use of chemical weapons, allegations denied by the regime.
Barack Obama on Monday gave a series of television interviews aimed at building support among a US Congress and public wary of new military action in the Middle East.
The president maintains a limited strike is needed to punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime for the use of chemical weapons and to deter it from using them again.
“I want to make sure that norm against use of chemical weapons is maintained,” Barack Obama told ABC News.
“That’s in our national security interest. If we can do that without a military strike that is overwhelmingly my preference.”
Asked by Diane Sawyer of ABC News if he would put plans for an attack on pause should Bashar al-Assad yield control of his chemical weapons, Barack Obama answered: “Absolutely, if in fact that happened.”
Barack Obama said he would continue to press the US Congress to back a resolution authorizing him to take military action against Syria, but he implied the timeline for action had shifted.
Barack Obama has said he will put plans for a military strike against Syria on hold if the country agrees to place its chemical weapons stockpile under international control
“The stakes are high, but they are long term,” he said, adding that he did not “foresee a succession of votes this week, or any time in the immediate future”.
Barack Obama added: “I don’t think that we would have gotten to this point unless we had maintained a credible possibility of a military strike, and I don’t think now is the time for us to let up on that.”
US senators had been expected to take a first vote on the issue on Wednesday, but the test vote on the legislation was postponed on Monday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who cited “international discussions” as a reason for the delay.
Many US politicians and members of the public remain concerned that military action could draw the nation into a prolonged war and spark broader hostilities in the region.
Support in Congress for a measure authorizing attacks on Syria has remained relatively low, with more than 230 of the 433 members in the House of Representatives reportedly either opposed to or likely to oppose strikes as of Friday.
In addition, opinion polls suggest Americans remain wary of a strike against Syria, with only one in five believing that a failure to respond to chemical weapons attacks would embolden other governments, according to an Associated Press poll concluded on Monday.
Barack Obama’s remarks came after Russia asked Syria to put its chemical weapons stockpiles under international control and then have them destroyed, in an attempt to avoid US military strikes.
The idea appeared to have stemmed from an inadvertent suggestion by Secretary of State John Kerry.
When asked at a news conference whether there was anything Bashar al-Assad could do to avoid a military strike, John Kerry replied that he could hand over his entire stockpile of chemical weapons within the next week.
Although US officials subsequently said John Kerry had made a “rhetorical argument” rather than a serious offer, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later said he presented the proposal during talks with his Syrian counterpart, Walid Muallem.
Sergei Lavrov revealed that he had urged Walid Muallem to “not only agree on placing chemical weapons storage sites under international control, but also on their subsequent destruction”.
He said he had also told Walid Muallem that Syria should then fully join the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Walid Muallem told reporters through an interpreter that Syria welcomed the initiative, and he praised Russia for “attempting to prevent American aggression against our people”.
Barack Obama on Monday told NBC News he was “skeptical” of Syria’s professed interest in relinquishing its weapons, because “this is not how we’ve seen them operate over the last couple of years”.
But he suggested the matter would never have arisen in talks between Russia and Syria “unless we had maintained a credible possibility of a military strike, and I don’t think now is the time for us to let up on that”.
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In an interview with PBS, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said there is “no evidence” that his government has used chemical weapons.
In the interview, to be aired on Monday, Bashar al-Assad also suggested his allies would retaliate if the West attacked.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has been lobbying hard for military action against Bashar al-Assad during talks with EU and Arab foreign ministers in Europe.
Congress is due to debate whether to authorize intervention in Syria.
Lawmakers will return from their summer recess on Monday to start discussing President Barack Obama’s resolution to launch a “limited, narrow” strike.
A Senate vote on the issue is expected as early as Wednesday, although the timetable for Barack Obama’s request is less certain in the House, where the measure faces an even rockier time.
The US accuses Bashar al-Assad’s forces of killing 1,429 people in a sarin gas attack on 21 August on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.
Bashar al-Assad’s government blames the attack on rebels fighting to overthrow him in the country’s two-and-a-half-year civil war, which has claimed some 100,000 lives, according to UN estimates.
In his interview with PBS, the Syrian president said it was up to the US to prove that his forces were behind the Damascus attack.
In an interview with PBS, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said there is “no evidence” that his government has used chemical weapons
“There has been no evidence that I used chemical weapons against my own people,” he told the network.
Bashar al-Assad would neither confirm nor deny that his government kept chemical weapons, but said that if they existed, they were “in centralized control”.
He also reportedly “suggested that there would be, among people that are aligned with him, some kind of retaliation if a strike was made”, PBS said.
Syria’s allies include China and Russia, as well as Iran and the militant Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.
On a visit to Moscow, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said the US was using the issue of chemical weapons as a “pretext” to launch a war.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there was no alternative to a peaceful solution to the crisis – and Moscow was convinced it was possible.
“We appeal to our American colleagues to concentrate on this [the Geneva conference] and not for preparing for a war scenario”.
The White House has admitted it has no “irrefutable” evidence of Bashar al-Assad’s involvement in the August attack, but said a “strong common-sense test irrespective of the intelligence” suggested his government was responsible.
“We’ve seen the video proof of the outcome of those attacks,” White House Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough said on Sunday.
“Now do we have a picture or do we have irrefutable beyond-a-reasonable-doubt evidence? This is not a court of law and intelligence does not work that way.”
John Kerry also dismissed Bashar al-Assad’s comments, saying that “the evidence speaks for itself”.
“Assad’s deplorable use of chemical weapons crosses an international, global red line,” he said in Paris after meeting Arab League foreign ministers.
John Kerry will meet UK Foreign Secretary William Hague in London on Monday morning, before returning to the US in the afternoon.
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David Petraeus is urging members of Congress to support President Barack Obama’s plan for military intervention in Syria.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is suspected of launching chemical attacks on his own people, killing more than 1,400, including hundreds of children.
Former CIA director and retired Army General David Petraeus says military action in Syria is “necessary” to deter other nations – like Iran and North Korea – from using similar weapons.
While President Barack Obama could have used military force in Syria without the approval of Congress, he opted to put the decision to a vote. Even if Congress doesn’t approve the president’s plan – which seems likely given the bi-partisan objections to intervening in yet another war in the Middle East – Barack Obama still has the authority to launch an attack.
“Failure of Congress to approve the president’s request would have serious ramifications not just in the Mideast but around the world,” David Petraeus said in a statement to POLITICO.
President Barack Obama is using gruesome footage that shows the carnage in the suburbs of Demascus following the August 21, attack, when the White House alleges Bashar al-Assad launched sarin gas in areas considered to be rebel strongholds.
David Petraeus is urging members of Congress to support President Barack Obama’s plan for military intervention in Syria
In one of the more heartbreaking videos, a room is full of what appear to be the lifeless bodies of dozens of children. In another, men are seen foaming at the mouth and having convulsions.
In all, 1,429 people were killed in the vicious attack, including at least 426 children.
David Petraeus, who is widely respected amongst lawmakers when it comes to military matters, could help persuade members of Congress to support the White House’s plan for Syria.
“Military action against the Syrian regime is, thus, necessary not just to deter future use of chemical weapons in Syria and elsewhere, but also to ensure that Iran, North Korea and other would-be aggressors never underestimate the United States’ resolve to take necessary military action when other tools prove insufficient,” David Petraeus said in the statement.
David Petraeus served as the U.S. commander for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan under former President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. He was tapped by Barack Obama to be the director of the CIA in 2011 but was forced to resign after an affair he had with his biographer went public.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates also have publicly supported the president’s call for military intervention in Syria.
On Monday – when Congress is back in session – President Barack Obama will sit for interviews with six different television networks in an attempt to win public support for his plan for Syria. The interviews will be conducted by ABC’s Diane Sawyer, CBS’s Scott Pelley, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Fox’s Chris Wallace, NBC’s Brian Williams and PBS’s Gwen Ifill.
Congress is expected to vote on the matter later this week, as support for Barack Obama’s plan continues to dwindle.
President Barack Obama last week canceled a trip to California so he could stay in Washington to continue lobbying for intervention in Syria. The president was scheduled to attend a $324,000 a plate fundraiser at the home of Marta Kauffman, the co-creator of the NBC sitcom Friends.
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G20 leaders at Saint Petersburg summit remain divided over the Syrian conflict as they enter the final day of their meeting.
Italian PM Enrico Letta said the splits were confirmed during a working dinner in St Petersburg on Thursday.
A spokesman for the Russian presidency said a US strike on Syria would “drive another nail into the coffin of international law”.
At the UN, the US Ambassador Samantha Power accused Russia of holding the Security Council hostage by blocking resolutions.
Samantha Power said the Security Council was no longer a “viable path” for holding Syria accountable for war crimes.
The US government accuses President Bashar al-Assad’s forces of killing 1,429 people in a poison-gas attack in the Damascus suburbs on August 21.
The UK says scientists at the Porton Down research laboratories have found traces of sarin gas on cloth and soil samples.
But Bashar al-Assad has blamed rebels for the attack. China and Russia, which have refused to agree to a Security Council resolution against Syria, insist any action without the UN would be illegal.
The US and France are the only nations at the G20 summit to commit to using force in Syria.
Samantha Power told a news conference in New York: “Even in the wake of the flagrant shattering of the international norm against chemical weapons use, Russia continues to hold the council hostage and shirk its international responsibilities.
G20 leaders at Saint Petersburg summit remain divided over the Syrian conflict as they enter the final day of their meeting
“What we have learned, what the Syrian people have learned, is that the Security Council the world needs to deal with this crisis is not the Security Council we have.”
President Barack Obama is thought to be trying at the G20 summit to build an international coalition to back strikes against military targets in Syria.
But differences of opinion became obvious when world leaders – including Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin – discussed Syria over dinner on Thursday evening.
Enrico Letta said in a tweet that “the G20 has just now finished the dinner session, at which the divisions about Syria were confirmed”.
President Vladimir Putin’s press spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said after the dinner that the G20 was split down the middle, with some countries seeking hasty action and others wanting the US to go through the UN Security Council.
British sources say the leaders of France, Turkey, Canada and the UK gave strong backing to President Barack Obama’s call for military action. The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said the Turks put a “very strong argument about how the world must respond to the use of chemical weapons”.
But correspondents in St Petersburg say opponents of US military intervention appear to far outnumber supporters within the G20.
However, the views of the G20 leaders on any US action could be the least of Barack Obama’s worries, as his real difficulties might lie back in the US.
He was nearly an hour late for Thursday’s G20 dinner. His aides said he had been trying to find time during the summit to call US members of Congress, who are due to vote next week on whether to back Barack Obama’s call for a military strike.
President Barack Obama also cancelled a trip to California on Monday in order to lobby Congress, as a poll commissioned by the BBC and ABC News suggested more than one-third of Congress members were undecided whether or not to back military action.
A majority of those who had made a decision said they would vote against the president.
Syria’s parliamentary speaker has written to the speaker of the House of Representatives urging members not to rush into an “irresponsible, reckless action”.
The Assad regime has been accused of using chemical weapons against Syrian civilians on several occasions during the 30-month conflict.
Some 100,000 people have died in the conflict, and more than two million Syrians are classified as refugees, according to the UN.
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The seating plan at today’s G20 summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, has reportedly been adjusted to put physical distance between host President Vladimir Putin and President Barack Obama as tensions are running high over Syria.
Ahead of the meeting of the leading world economies in St Petersburg, Vladimir Putin warned that action without UN approval would be “an aggression” as the relationship between the two countries reaches its lowest point since the Cold War.
But President Obama, who is leading the international drive for an armed response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s apparent breach of the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons, said the credibility of the international community was on the line.
The seating plan at G20 summit in Saint Petersburg has been adjusted to put physical distance between host Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama
Barack Obama last night cleared the first hurdle to obtaining Congressional approval for a strike, as the influential Senate Foreign Affairs Committee backed the use of force by a margin of 10-7, moving the measure to a full Senate vote next week.
The proposal allows the use of force for 60 days, with the possibility of a 30-day extension.
He president has said he is confident of receiving approval from Congress for “limited and proportionate’ military action, which he said would not involve US troops putting ‘boots on the ground” in Syria.
Bashar al-Assad had flouted a chemical weapons ban enshrined in treaties signed by governments representing 98% of the world’s population, he said, adding: “I didn’t set a red line. The world set a red line.”
Speaking in Sweden as he travelled to St Petersburg, Barack Obama said the credibility of the international community was “on the line” if it allowed Bashar al-Assad to act with impunity.
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G20 leaders are meeting in Sankt Petersburg, Russia, amid sharp differences over the crisis in Syria.
US President Barack Obama has begun informal talks with other leaders as he pushes for military action over Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that military action without UN approval would be “an aggression”.
Syria is not officially on the G20 agenda in St Petersburg, but it is expected to dominate informal meetings.
The annual summit of the G20 group of the world’s leading economies is supposed to concentrate on the global economy.
Barack Obama, British PM David Cameron and Chinese President Xi Jinping are among the leaders who have now arrived at the G20.
On Thursday the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said one of its surgeons, a Syrian working in Aleppo province, had been killed.
It gave no details of the circumstances but called for humanitarian workers to be protected.
Separately, Syrian rebels have launched an assault on the religiously mixed village of Maaloula, in western Syria, held by government forces.
A Christian nun in Maaloula told the Associated Press news agency that the rebels had seized a mountain-top hotel and were shelling the community below.
On the eve of the summit, a US Senate panel approved the use of military force in Syria, in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack.
G20 leaders are meeting in Sankt Petersburg amid sharp differences over the crisis in Syria
The proposal, which now goes to a full Senate vote next week, allows the use of force in Syria for 60 days with the possibility to extend it for 30 days.
The measure must also be approved by the US House of Representatives.
The Damascus government is accused of using chemical weapons against civilians on several occasions during the 30-month conflict – most recently on a large scale in an attack on 21 August on the outskirts of the capital.
The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied involvement and said the rebels were responsible.
The US has put the death toll from that incident at 1,429 – though other countries and groups have given lower figures – and says all the evidence implicates government forces.
Vladimir Putin dismissed as “ludicrous” claims the Syrian government used chemical weapons, but said Russia would be ready to act if there was clear proof of what weapons were used and by whom.
Barack Obama is trying to build support in the US for military action against the Syrian government.
After arriving in St Petersburg, he held talks with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in the first of a series of meetings on the sidelines.
Barack Obama said Japan and the US had a “joint recognition” that the use of chemical weapons in Syria was a tragedy and a violation of international law.
Shinzo Abe has not stated publicly whether he supports military strikes.
A new study of images apparently from the chemical attack on August 21 concludes that the rockets carrying the gas held up to 50 times more nerve agent than previously estimated, the New York Times reported.
The study was carried out by an expert in warhead design, Richard Lloyd, and Theodore Postol, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The German intelligence service, the BND, told German MPs in a confidential briefing on Wednesday that Syrian forces might have misjudged the mix of gases in the attack, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported.
This might explain why the death toll was much higher than in previous suspected attacks, the head of the BND was quoted as saying.
France has strongly backed the US plan for military action. The French parliament debated the issue on Wednesday, although no vote was held.
The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.
More than two million Syrians are now registered as refugees, the UN says, with an additional 4.25 million displaced within the country, making it the worst refugee crisis since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
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Arizona Republican Senator John McCain was caught playing poker on his iPhone while America’s most senior foreign policy and military officials made President Barack Obama’s case for using military force against the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
A Washington Post photographer snapped an over-the-shoulder picture of John McCain casually betting play money on his electronic cards, while Syria’s fate was the subject of passionate statements and often carefully manicured rhetoric.
Minutes after the Post published the photo online, John McCain cracked a joke in the hope of limiting what is bound to be an embarrassing news cycle.
“Scandal!” read John McCain’s sardonic tweet.
A Washington Post photographer snapped an over-the-shoulder picture of John McCain casually betting play money on his electronic cards, while Syria’s fate was the subject of passionate statements and often carefully manicured rhetoric
“Caught playing iPhone game at 3+ hour Senate hearing – worst of all I lost!”
As the news broke, John McCain was waiting to appear on CNN to discuss the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
“Occasionally I get a little bored and so I resorted,” he admitted on the air.
CNN associate producer Ashley Killough tweeted afterward that John McCain “said he lost <<thousands>> of fake dollars” during the marathon Capitol Hill session.
John McCain may have been distracted by the presentations from Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey. He had, after all, already made up his mind to side with the president and his request for authorization to bomb Syria.
“If the Congress were to reject a resolution like this, after the president of the United States has already committed to action, the consequences would be catastrophic,” John McCain said after her emerged from a closed-door meeting with Barack Obama on Tuesday morning, “in that the credibility of this country with friends and adversaries alike would be shredded”.
“And there would be not only implications for this president, but for future presidencies as well.”
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Vladimir Putin has warned America and its allies against taking one-sided action in Syria.
The Russian president said any military strikes without UN approval would be “an aggression”.
President Barack Obama has called for punitive action in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack.
Vladimir Putin said Russia did not rule out supporting a UN Security Council resolution authorizing force, if it was proved “beyond doubt” that the Syrian government used chemical weapons.
On Tuesday evening, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee agreed on a draft resolution backing the use of US military force.
The measure, to be voted on next week, sets a time limit of 60 days on any operation.
According to the draft resolution, the operation would be restricted to a “limited and tailored use of the United States Armed Forces against Syria”, and ban the use of any ground forces.
The US has put the death toll from the alleged chemical attack on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21 at 1,429, though other countries and organizations have given lower figures.
Vladimir Putin has warned America and its allies against taking one-sided action in Syria
Vladimir Putin was speaking ahead of the G20 summit in St Petersburg, which opens on Thursday and is supposed to concentrate on the global economy, but now looks likely to be dominated by the Syrian crisis.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press and Russia’s state Channel 1 television, Vladimir Putin said it was “ludicrous” that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Russia, would use chemical weapons at a time when it was gaining ground against the rebels.
“If there is evidence that chemical weapons were used, and by the regular army… then this evidence must be presented to the UN Security Council. And it must be convincing,” Vladimir Putin said.
But in what correspondents say is an apparent change in stance, Vladimir Putin said Russia would “be ready to act in the most decisive and serious way” if there was clear proof of what weapons were used and who used them.
Vladimir Putin said it was “too early” to talk about what Russia would do if America took action without a UN resolution.
He confirmed that Russia had currently suspended delivering further components of S-300 missile systems to Syria.
“But if we see that steps are taken that violate the existing international norms, we shall think how we should act in the future, in particular regarding supplies of such sensitive weapons to certain regions of the world.”
The US Congress is expected to vote next week on whether to back President Barack Obama’s push for military strikes in Syria.
Ahead of next week’s vote in Congress on whether to back military strikes in Syria, US Secretary of State John Kerry appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday to promote the Obama administration’s case.
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President Barack Obama’s plans for a military strike on Syria have won backing from key US political figures.
Barack Obama said a “limited” strike was needed to degrade President Bashar al-Assad’s capabilities in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack.
Key Republican leaders John Boehner and Eric Cantor both signaled their support for military action. Congress is expected to vote next week.
The UN earlier confirmed that more than two million Syrians were now refugees.
More than 100,000 people are thought to have died since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.
President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden met House Speaker John Boehner, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and the chairmen and ranking members from the national security committees in Washington on Tuesday.
John Boehner signaled his support for Barack Obama’s call for action, saying that only the US had the capacity to stop President Bashar al-Assad. John Boehner urged his colleagues in Congress to follow suit.
Eric Cantor, the House of Representatives majority leader, said he also backed Barack Obama.
President Barack Obama’s plans for a military strike on Syria have won backing from key US political figures
The Virginia Republican said: “Assad’s Syria, a state sponsor of terrorism, is the epitome of a rogue state, and it has long posed a direct threat to American interests and to our partners.”
Nancy Pelosi said she did not believe Congress would reject a resolution calling for force.
Barack Obama said that Bashar al-Assad had to be held accountable for the chemical attack and that he was confident Congress would back him.
He said he was proposing military action that would degrade Bashar al-Assad’s capacity to use chemical weapons “now and in the future”.
“What we are envisioning is something limited. It is something proportional,” the president said.
“At the same time we have a broader strategy that will allow us to upgrade the capabilities of the opposition.”
Secretary of State John Kerry, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and the top US military officer, Gen Martin Dempsey, are appearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
John Kerry told the panel that US allies such as Israel and Jordan were “one stiff breeze” away from potentially being hurt by any fresh chemical weapons attacks, and that US inaction would only embolden the Syrian president.
“This is not the time for armchair isolationism,” John Kerry said.
“This is not the time to be spectators to slaughter. Neither our country nor out conscience can afford the cost of silence.
“We have spoken up against unspeakable horror many times in the past. Now we must stand up and act.”
But John Kerry said again that there would be no American boots on the ground in Syria and that Barack Obama was “not asking America to go to war”.
Chuck Hagel said that “the word of the United States must mean something” and echoed John Kerry when adding: “A refusal to act would undermine the credibility of America’s other security commitments, including the president’s commitment to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.”
There will also be a classified briefing for all members of Congress.
Barack Obama will head to Sweden late on Tuesday for a G20 meeting sure to be dominated by Syria.
France has strongly backed the US plan for military action.
President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday: “When a chemical massacre takes place, when the world is informed of it, when the evidence is delivered, when the guilty parties are known, then there must be an answer.”
Francois Hollande called for Europe to unite on the issue, but said he would wait for the Congress vote.
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Secretary of State John Kerry says the US has evidence that the chemical nerve agent sarin was used in a deadly attack in Damascus last month.
John Kerry said samples from hair and blood gathered after the attack “tested positive for signatures of sarin”.
The US blames the Syrian government for the August 21 attack.
President Barack Obama has vowed punitive action but wants Congress to vote on it first.
Syria dismissed the delay and said it was ready for any strike.
UN experts have been in Syria gathering evidence to determine whether chemical weapons attacks have taken place on various occasions. They have now arrived in the Netherlands with samples for analysis.
The biggest and deadliest apparent attack took place on August 21 in east Damascus. The US says more than 1,400 people were killed.
Washington said only the Damascus government has the capacity to launch such an attack.
Syria has denied it was responsible and blames the rebels.
John Kerry says the US has evidence that the chemical nerve agent sarin was used in a deadly attack in Damascus last month
John Kerry implied that the US evidence was supplied by its own sources, rather than via the UN inspectors.
“In the last 24 hours, we have learned through samples that were provided to the United States that have now been tested from first responders in east Damascus and hair samples and blood samples have tested positive for signatures of Sarin,” Kerry said on NBC’s Meet The Press.
“So this case is building and this case will build.”
The US has previously said it had similar evidence of sarin use in other attacks.
John Kerry also said he was confident that Congress would give its approval for the US to launch strikes against Syria after it reconvenes on September 9.
Congressmen “will do what is right because they understand the stakes”, he said, declining to explain whether Barack Obama would press ahead even if Congress voted against.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Barack Obama’s decision to delay the strikes pending a vote in Congress was just “a political and media manoeuvre”.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remained defiant on Sunday, saying: “Syria… is capable of facing up to any external aggression just as it faces up to internal aggression every day, in the form of terrorist groups and those that support them.”
The Syrian government has been fighting rebel forces since March 2011.
More than 100,000 people are estimated to have died in the conflict, and at least 1.7 million have become refugees.
Syria is known to have extensive supplies of chemical weapons.
Barack Obama has often said that using them would cross a “red line”, prompting US intervention.
On Saturday, Barack Obama said any action would be limited, ruling out a ground invasion.
Congress is due to reconvene on September 9, meaning any military operation would not happen until then.
The opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) said President Barack Obama’s decision to delay any strikes in Syria was a “failure in leadership” and could “embolden” the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.
Arab League foreign ministers are meeting in Cairo on Sunday, with Saudi Arabia urging them to back calls for strikes against Syria.
The UK has ruled out taking part in any attack, after PM David Cameron failed to win the support of parliament last week.
That leaves France as the only other major power that has said it could strike against Syria – though it says it will not act on its own before the vote in the US Congress.
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President Barack Obama says he will seek congressional authorization for taking military action against Syria.
The US says the Syrian government carried out chemical weapons attacks on August 21 in which 1,429 people died.
Barack Obama said the operation would be limited in duration and strong to deter future chemical attacks. Congress is due to re-open on September 9.
The Syrian government denies it was behind the attacks and blames rebels.
UN inspectors have now left Syria with samples from site visits, which will go to laboratories in Europe for testing.
President Barack Obama says the US should take military action against Syria
President Barack Obama said the military operation could happen tomorrow, next week or in the near future.
“We cannot and will not turn a blind eye to what happened in Damascus,” he said.
As commander-in-chief, Barack Obama has the constitutional authority to order military action without the backing of Congress.
However, he said it was important to have the debate.
Last week, British MPs defeated a government motion to take military action in Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has challenged the US to present to the UN evidence that Syria attacked rebels with chemical weapons.
Vladimir Putin said it would be “utter nonsense” for Syria’s government to provoke opponents with such attacks.
Russia – a key ally of Syria – has previously warned that “any unilateral military action bypassing the UN Security Council” would be a “direct violation of international law”.
Moscow, along with China, has vetoed two previous draft resolutions on Syria.
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President Vladimir Putin has challenged the US to present to the UN evidence that Syria attacked rebels with chemical weapons near Damascus.
The Russian president said it would be “utter nonsense” for Syria’s government to provoke opponents with such attacks.
President Barack Obama says he is considering military action against Syria after intelligence reports that 1,429 people were killed on August 21.
UN weapons inspectors have left Syria after gathering evidence for four days.
They are taking their samples to the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons, in The Hague.
The samples are thought to include soil, swabs from munitions, blood and hair from the victims and, experts say, possibly even flesh from dead bodies.
The US says hundreds of children were among those killed in the suspected chemical weapons attacks, which the US says was carried out by the Syrian government.
Syria said the US claim was “full of lies”, blaming rebels for the attacks.
President Barack Obama said on Friday the US was planning a “limited, narrow” military response that would not involve “boots on the ground”.
The inspectors’ departure from Syria removes both a practical and a political obstacle to the launch of US-led military action, correspondents say.
Syrian people are worried and are making preparations.
Vladimir Putin urged Barack Obama, as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, to think about future victims in Syria before using force
They do not know what Barack Obama means by a limited attack and what consequences it will have for them.
Speaking to journalists in the Russian far-eastern city of Vladivostok, Vladimir Putin urged Barack Obama – as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate – to think about future victims in Syria before using force.
The Russian president said it was ridiculous to suggest the Syrian government was to blame for the attack.
“Syrian government troops are on the offensive and have surrounded the opposition in several regions,” Vladimir Putin said.
“In these conditions, to give a trump card to those who are calling for a military intervention is utter nonsense.”
“So I’m convinced that is nothing more than a provocation by those who want to drag other countries into the Syrian conflict.”
Vladimir Putin said that the US failure to present evidence to the international community was “simply disrespectful”.
“If there is evidence it should be shown. If it is not shown, then there isn’t any,” he said.
Russia – a key ally of Syria – has previously warned that “any unilateral military action bypassing the UN Security Council” would be a “direct violation of international law”.
Moscow, along with China, has vetoed two previous draft resolutions on Syria.
Vladimir Putin also expressed surprise at a vote in the British parliament on Thursday ruling out participation in military action.
“I will be honest: this was completely unexpected for me,” he said.
“This shows that in Great Britain, even if it is the USA’s main geopolitical ally in the world… there are people who are guided by national interests and common sense, and value their sovereignty.”
Meanwhile in France – seen as the main US ally since the UK vote – an opinion poll suggested that 64% opposed the use of force.
Neither France nor the US needs parliamentary approval for military action.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said his country will defend itself against any Western “aggression”.
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A complete list of the gifts received by US officials from foreign leaders last year, as well as a couple dozen from previous years, were disclosed by the State Department on Thursday.
The lavish gifts include diamond-and-ruby-encrusted jewels worth $500,000 received by Hillary Clinton from the Saudi Arabian king.
Hillary Clinton’s gifts from King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz – which included a necklace, bracelet, earrings and a ring – were by far the most expensive items among the hundreds of gifts given to U.S. officials in 2012.
The gift-giving continues a long-held tradition of international diplomacy, in which the wealthy and powerful show their appreciation for one another by exchanging artwork, jewelry, electronics and other presents.
Most of the items are required to be donated to the national archives, though a few may be kept depending on their value. The Hill newspaper first reported on the gifts.
In addition to her jewels from Saudi Arabia, Hillary Clinton also received wine from Algeria; a two-piece bronze sculpture of a red chili pepper from Singapore; a cuff bracelet, necklace and earrings from Kazakhstan; caviar and a wool carpet from Azerbaijan; Cognac from Russia; gold, sapphire and diamond jewelry worth $58,000 from Brunei; and a sword from Yemen.
Among President Obama’s gifts were: Christmas mugs, coffee, and steak knives from Brunei; a basketball autographed by Chinese President Xi Jinping; a ‘silver figure representing [an] oversized coffee bean’ from Colombia; a leather wallet and tote bag from France; a porcelain vase decorated with images of the White House and Kremlin from Russia; a chest of liquor and a Coca-Cola bottle decorated with beads from Mexico; and a 41-inch saber from Mongolia.
Hillary Clinton received $500,000 diamond-and-ruby-encrusted jewels from Saudi Arabia King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz
Gifts were also given to Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, former CIA Chief David Petraeus and Chief Justice John Roberts, among others.
Joe Biden’s gifts included a silver knife and chopsticks from Mongolia, a leather cigar box from Mexico, and a female bare-breasted bust from Liberia.
In every case, officials accepted the items because “non-acceptance would cause embarrassment to donor and US”, according to a document provided by the State Department.
SAMPLING OF ITEMS RECEIVED BY US OFFICIALS:
President Barack Obama’s gifts included:
- Christmas mugs, coffee, and steak knives from Brunei
- Basketball autographed by Chinese President Xi Jinping
- “Silver figure representing [an] oversized coffee bean” from Colombia
- Leather wallet and tote bag from France
- Porcelain vase decorated with images of the White House and Kremlin from Russia
- Chest of liquor and a Coca-Cola bottle decorated with beads from Mexico
- 41-inch saber from Mongolia
Hillary Clinton’s gifts included:
- Wine from Algeria
- Two-piece bronze sculpture of a red chili pepper from Singapore
- Cuff bracelet, necklace and earrings from Kazakhstan
- Caviar and a wool carpet from Azerbaijan
- Cognac from Russia
- Gold, sapphire and diamond jewelry worth $58,000 from Brunei
- Sword from Yemen
Joe Biden’s gifts included:
- Silver knife and chopsticks from Mongolia
- Leather cigar box from Mexico
- A female bare-breasted bust from Liberia
The British Parliament vote against military strikes in Syria is a tough blow to PM David Cameron’s domestic political fortunes.
Since taking office in 2010, David Cameron has on numerous occasions been undercut not just from opposition parties, but also from rebel elements within both his own Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, the junior member of the U.K.’s governing coalition.
The government lost a vote – by a tally of 285 to 272 – that would have supported in principle military intervention in Syria, where Western governments have said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime carried out a deadly chemical-weapons attack on civilians last week. Members of all major parties – including David Cameron’s Tories – opposed the measure.
The British Parliament vote against military strikes in Syria is a tough blow to PM David Cameron’s domestic political fortunes
David Cameron said it is clear that the British Parliament, reflecting the view of the British people, doesn’t want to see the U.K. get involved in military action and “the government will act accordingly”.
The outcome marks a significant moment in British politics – it is highly unusual for a prime minister to be defeated on foreign policy and raises questions about what the U.K.’s role will be the world stage going forward.
It is also a rare setback for U.S.-U.K. relations that will spur questions about the so-called “special relationship” between the two nations. In recent decades, the U.K. has rarely if ever parted ways with the U.S. on such a significant strategic issue.
While the government doesn’t require parliamentary approval to take military action, it would now be politically difficult to do so. A further parliamentary vote had been due to take place early next week on whether the U.K. should be directly involved in that action. A spokesman for the prime minister confirmed that the U.K. now won’t take part in the Syrian action.
The outcome of the U.K. vote could make it more difficult for President Barack Obama and other Western allies – already weary from years of difficult military intervention in the Middle East – to convince their own publics of the need for intervention in Syria.
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President Barack Obama has said he has not yet decided on Syria strike.
However, the president said he had concluded Syrian government forces were behind a recent chemical weapons attack near Damascus.
Speaking on US television, Barack Obama said the use of chemical weapons affected US national interests and that sending a “shot across the bows” could have a positive impact on Syria’s war.
His comments follow a day of behind-the-scenes wrangling at the UN.
Meanwhile the UK had been pushing for permanent members of the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution which would have authorized measures to protect civilians in Syria.
But Syrian ally Russia refused to agree to the resolution and the meeting produced no end to the diplomatic stalemate which has long characterized the UN position on Syria.
The US State Department criticized “Russian intransigence” and said it could not allow diplomatic paralysis to serve as a shield for the Syrian leadership.
Russia is sending an anti-submarine ship and a missile cruiser to the eastern Mediterranean.
The ships are being sent to strengthen the navy’s presence in the area because of the “well-known situation” there, the Russian news agency Interfax has said.
But another news agency, RIA Novosti, quotes a senior naval command spokesman as saying that this is just a planned rotation, unconnected with Syria.
Critics have questioned what purpose a limited strike on Syria could serve, but Barack Obama told the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) it would send the government of Bashar al-Assad “a pretty strong signal that it better not [use chemical weapons] again”.
President Barack Obama has said he has not yet decided on Syria strike
The US has yet to produce the intelligence it says shows Bashar al-Assad’s government is guilty of using chemical weapons, and UN weapons inspectors are still investigating inside Syria.
The team has just begun a third day of on-site investigations, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appealed for it to be “given time to do its job”. He said the inspectors would finish their investigations and be out of the area by Saturday morning.
Syria denies using chemical weapons and blames opposition fighters for the attack near Damascus on August 21, which reportedly killed hundreds of people.
It accused the West of “inventing” excuses to launch a strike.
In a sign of growing fears about an impending attack among Syrians, the Associated Press quoted Lebanese officials as saying at least 6,000 Syrians crossed into Lebanon in a 24-hour period through the main Masnaa crossing – compared to a normal daily tally of between 500 and 1,000 refugees.
In Damascus senior military commanders are reportedly staying away from buildings thought likely to be targeted.
President Barack Obama told PBS that the US had “not yet made a decision, but the international norm against the use of chemical weapons needs to be kept in place, and hardly anyone disputes that chemical weapons were used in a large scale in Syria against civilian populations”.
“We’ve looked at all the evidence, and we don’t believe the opposition possessed chemical weapons of that sort,” Barack Obama said.
He added he had concluded that the Syrian government carried out the chemical weapons attack.
“There need to be international consequences, so we are consulting with our allies,” he said.
There was “a prospect that chemical weapons could be directed at us – and we want to make sure that doesn’t happen”.
Opinion polls until now have shown very little interest among the US public in getting involved in the Syrian conflict.
In an open letter to the president, US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner demanded he explain “the intended effect of military strikes”, and how he would prevent the intervention escalating, if he wanted to win public and congressional backing for action.
More than 110 members of Congress have signed a letter formally requesting that Barack Obama seek congressional approval for any action in Syria.
US officials are expected to give senior members of Congress a classified briefing on the evidence that the Syrian government carried out the alleged chemical attack on Thursday.
The US has said it will not take action alone – but one of its primary allies, the UK, has agreed to wait until UN inspectors report back before taking a parliamentary vote on potential action.
Russia rejected a UK push to try to agree a resolution on Syria among permanent UN Security Council members on Wednesday, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying the UN could not consider any draft resolution or proposed action in Syria before the UN weapons inspectors reported back.
The use of force without a sanction of the UN Security Council would be a “crude violation” of international law and “lead to the long-term destabilisation of the situation in the country and the region”, Sergei Lavrov has said.
The UK, US and France are continuing their discussions following the meeting of the five permanent members.
More than 100,000 people are estimated to have died since the conflict erupted in Syria in March 2011, and the conflict has produced at least 1.7 million refugees.
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America is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March for Jobs and Freedom, the civil rights rally at which Martin Luther King Jr. made his “I have a dream” speech.
President Barack Obama is to mark the occasion in Washington DC with an address from the same spot.
Members of the King family and veterans of the march will also be present.
Barack Obama, the first black US president, has described the 1963 protest as a “seminal event” in American history.
The march was considered a catalyst for civil rights reforms in the US.
President Barack Obama has arrived to deliver his address at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall just after an organized ringing of bells by churches and other groups at 15:00 local time (19:00 GMT), marking the exact time that Martin Luther King spoke on 28 August 1963.
The president was joined by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, who also spoke.
Former President George W. Bush, who is recovering from a heart procedure, sent a message of support.
In his statement George W. Bush said Barack Obama’s presidency reflected “the promise of America” and “will help us honor the man who inspired millions to redeem that promise”.
Chat show host Oprah Winfrey and actors Forest Whitaker and Jamie Foxx also attended the event.
America is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March for Jobs and Freedom, the civil rights rally at which Martin Luther King Jr. made his I have a dream speech
On Saturday, thousands of people, including Martin Luther King’s eldest son, marched to the Lincoln Memorial to mark the milestone anniversary.
Half a century earlier, Martin Luther King led some 250,000 protesters down the same strip and delivered his famous speech from its steps.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” he said, in one of the most celebrated pieces of American oratory.
His address marked the peak of a series of protests against racial discrimination that had begun when seamstress Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat for a white passenger in 1955.
Her action sparked a bus boycott campaign across Montgomery, Alabama.
Marchers opened Wednesday’s damp commemoration by walking the streets of Washington DC behind a replica of the transit bus that Parks once rode.
Martin Luther King became a dominant force in the movement and so was called on to make the final speech at the march.
He advocated the use of non-violent tactics such as sit-ins and protest marches, and was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1964.
Four years later, his assassination led to rioting in more than 100 US cities.
Organizers of Wednesday’s commemoration are focusing beyond racial issues to address the environment, gay rights and the challenges faced by those with disabilities, among other matters.
In an interview on Tuesday with a radio show, President Barack Obama said he imagines that Martin Luther King “would be amazed in many ways” about the social progress made since that speech.
He cited the prominent role of many African-Americans in the political and business spheres, as well as equal rights before the law.
Barack Obama, whose own oratory is often praised, said his address on Wednesday would not match that by the civil rights leader.
“It won’t be as good as the speech 50 years ago,” he said.
“I just want to get that out there early.”
“When you are talking about Dr. King’s speech at the March on Washington, you’re talking about one of the maybe five greatest speeches in American history,” Barack Obama added.
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Vice-President Joe Biden has said the US has “no doubt” that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons and that it must be held accountable.
The US has said its military is ready to launch strikes if President Barack Obama order an attack, and allies say they too are ready to act.
The Syrian government has strongly denied claims it used chemical weapons.
UN weapons inspectors are set to return to the site of last week’s suspected attack near Damascus on Wednesday.
Their evidence-gathering visit was delayed by a day after they were fired on.
The US says it will release its own intelligence report into the incident at Ghouta, a suburb of the capital, in the coming days.
More than 300 people reportedly died there.
President Barack Obama is said to have made at least 88 calls to foreign leaders since Wednesday’s suspected attack.
Vice-President Joe Biden has said the US has “no doubt” that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons and that it must be held accountable
British PM David Cameron said the world could “not stand idly by”, and French President Francois Hollande said France was “ready to punish” whoever was behind the attack.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that “attempts at a military solution will lead only to the further destabilization” in Syria and the region.
Sergei Lavrov emphasised the need for a political solution in a phone call to the joint UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, the foreign ministry in Moscow said.
Russia, China and Iran have previously warned against launching an attack on the war-ravaged country, where more than 100,000 people are thought to have died in two years of fighting.
Stocks have fallen on global markets and oil prices have shot up amid growing concern about an impending attack.
The US has not yet released its intelligence report into the alleged chemical attack, but US officials now say they are certain the Syrian government was behind the incident.
Joe Biden is the most senior member of the Obama administration to blame the Syrian government for the attack.
In a speech to a veterans’ group in Houston, he said there was “no doubt who was responsible for this heinous use of chemical weapons in Syria: the Syrian regime”.
He said that “those who use chemical weapons against defenceless men, women, and children… must be held accountable”.
White House spokesman Jay Carney earlier said it would be “fanciful” to think anyone else could be responsible – saying the Syrian regime remained in control of the country’s chemical arsenal and used the type of rocket that carried the payload used last Wednesday.
But he insisted there were no plans for “regime change”. Any military campaign is likely to be limited in scope, with missile strikes targeting military sites and no ground troops.
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The US forces are “ready” to launch strikes on Syria if President Barack Obama chooses to order an attack, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announces.
“We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfill and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take,” said Chuck Hagel.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has said there is “undeniable” proof that Syria had used chemical weapons.
The UK Parliament is to be recalled on Thursday to discuss possible responses.
Britain is considering military responses to the attack.
British PM David Cameron, who has cut short his holiday and returned to London, said MPs would vote on a “clear motion” on the crisis.
Syria’s allies, Russia and China, have stepped up their warnings against military intervention in Syria, with Moscow saying any such action would have “catastrophic consequences” for the region.
Meanwhile Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said he rejected “utterly and completely” claims that Syrian forces had used chemical weapons.
The Syrian government has blamed rebel fighters for the suspected chemical attack, which took place on August 21 near the Syrian capital Damascus, and reportedly killed more than 300 people.
On Monday, UN chemical weapons inspectors were fired on while investigating one of the five alleged attack sites around Damascus.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced that the US forces are “ready” to launch strikes on Syria if President Barack Obama chooses to order an attack
Chuck Hagel said the US Department of Defense had provided President Barack Obama with “all options for all contingencies”.
He said that intelligence currently being gathered by the UN inspectors would confirm that the Syrian government was responsible for the chemical attacks last week.
“I think it’s pretty clear that chemical weapons were used against people in Syria,” he said.
“I think the intelligence will conclude that it wasn’t the rebels who used it, and there’ll probably be pretty good intelligence to show is that the Syria government was responsible. But we’ll wait and determine what the facts and the intelligence bear out.”
Chuck Hagel’s remarks come a day after John Kerry accused the Syrian government of destroying evidence of its chemical weapons use in Damascus by shelling the area.
He said his administration had additional information about the attacks that it would make public in the days ahead. John Kerry described the assaults as a “moral obscenity”.
“What we saw in Syria last week should shock the conscience of the world. It defies any code of morality,” John Kerry said at a news conference on Monday.
“Make no mistake, President Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world’s most heinous weapons against the world’s most vulnerable people.”
The UN Security Council is divided, with Russia and China opposing military intervention and the UK and France warning that the UN could be bypassed if there was “great humanitarian need”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said there was no evidence that an attack had taken place or who was responsible.
The UN says more than 100,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Assad began more than two years ago. The conflict has produced more than 1.7 million registered refugees.
Models for possible intervention
- Iraq 1991: US-led global military coalition, anchored in international law; explicit mandate from UN Security Council to evict Iraqi forces from Kuwait
- Balkans 1990s: US arms supplied to anti-Serb resistance in Croatia and Bosnia in defiance of UN-mandated embargo; later US-led air campaign against Serb paramilitaries. In 1999, US jets provided bulk of 38,000 NATO sorties against Serbia to prevent massacres in Kosovo – legally controversial with UN Security Council resolutions linked to “enforcement measures”
- Somalia 1992-93: UN Security Council authorized creation of international force with aim of facilitating humanitarian supplies as Somali state failed. Gradual US military involvement without clear objective culminated in Black Hawk Down disaster in 1993. US troops pulled out
- Libya 2011: France and UK sought UN Security Council authorization for humanitarian operation in Benghazi in 2011. Russia and China abstained but did not veto resolution. Air offensive continued until fall of Gaddafi.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned the fact that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its own people.
John Kerry said footage of the alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus was “real and compelling” and “undeniable”.
He said President Barack Obama was considering a response.
It comes hours after UN chemical weapons inspectors were fired on near the Syrian capital.
The team was dispatched to one of the five sites around Damascus where hundreds of people were reported to have been killed on August 21.
The Syrian government has denied launching any chemical attacks.
Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned the fact that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its own people
Russia, a key Syrian ally, has strongly warned against Western military action in Syria.
“What we saw in Syria last week should shock the conscience of the world. It defies any code of morality,” John Kerry said in a briefing for journalists on Monday.
The US administration had additional information about the attack that it would make public in the days ahead, he added.
John Kerry said the delay in allowing UN inspectors to the sites of the alleged chemical weapons attack were signs the Syrian government had something to hide.
“Attacking the area, shelling and systematically destroying evidence is not the behavior of a government that has nothing to hide. The regime’s belated decision to allow access is too late… to be credible,” John Kerry said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier told reporters the West had not been able to come up with any proof of chemical weapons use.
Sergei Lavrov was responding to suggestions from some Western countries that military action against the Syria government could be taken without a UN mandate.
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The Syrian government has allowed UN inspectors to investigate allegations of a suspected chemical weapon attack near Damascus.
The team is to begin work on Monday. Activists say Syrian forces killed more than 300 people in several suburbs east and west of the capital on Wednesday.
State media reported that chemical agents were found in tunnels used by rebel fighters, and also that soldiers suffered “suffocation” in fighting around the suburb of Jobar.
State TV is meanwhile reporting that the governor of the central district of Hama, Anas Abdul-Razzaq Naem, has been killed in a car bomb attack.
The Syrian foreign ministry statement broadcast on state television said an agreement to allow UN chemical weapons experts to “investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in Damascus province” had been concluded on Sunday with the UN’s disarmament chief, Angela Kane.
The agreement was “effective immediately”, the statement added.
The Syrian government has allowed UN inspectors to investigate allegations of a suspected chemical weapon attack near Damascus
A spokesperson for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon subsequently announced that the inspectors were “preparing to conduct on-site fact-finding activities”, starting on Monday. A ceasefire will be observed at the affected locations, the statement said.
Russia, a key ally of Syria, welcomed the decision to allow the inspectors in but warned the West against pre-empting the results.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Saturday that three hospitals it supports in the Damascus area had treated about 3,600 patients with “neurotoxic symptoms” early on Wednesday morning, of whom 355 died.
While MSF said it could not “scientifically confirm” the use of chemical weapons, staff at the hospitals described a large number of patients arriving in the space of less than three hours with symptoms including convulsions, pinpoint pupils and breathing problems.
UK’s PM David Cameron has discussed the situation in a telephone call with President Francois Hollande of France.
David Cameron agreed a similar response in a telephone conversation with US President Barack Obama on Saturday evening.
Later, Syria’s Information Minister, Omran Zoabi, warned that US military action in Syria would not be a “walk in the park”.
“If the US leads a military intervention, this will have dangerous consequences. It will bring chaos and the region will burn,” he said.
A year ago, President Barack Obama said that any attempt by Syria to use its chemical weapons would be a “red line” for the US, and change his administration’s “calculus” in the region.
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President Barack Obama has said the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria in an attack on Wednesday is a “big event of grave concern”.
Barack Obama said the US was still seeking confirmation such weapons were used, but if proved true the situation would “require America’s attention”.
Meanwhile, Syria’s main ally Russia has said there is growing evidence that rebels were behind the attack.
The opposition says hundreds died in a government assault outside Damascus.
But despite calls from many different countries, there is no sign yet that the Syrian authorities will allow a UN inspection team to visit to investigate the claims.
Unverified footage shows civilians – many of them children – dead or suffering from what appear to be horrific symptoms as a result of Wednesday’s attack.
Also on Friday, UN agencies said the number of children forced to flee Syria had reached one million.
The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, and children’s fund, Unicef, described the figure as “a shameful milestone”, and said a further two million children were displaced within the country.
Last year, President Barack Obama said the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a “red line” and force a tough US response.
Meanwhile, Russia joined calls for an “objective investigation” by UN chemical weapons experts.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich said Moscow had urged President Bashar al-Assad to co-operate with a probe, but also that questions remained about the willingness of the opposition to provide “secure, safe access of the [UN] mission to the location of the incident”.
“More new evidence is starting to emerge that this criminal act was clearly provocative,” the ministry added.
President Barack Obama said the US was seeking confirmation if chemical weapons were used in Damascus attacks
“On the internet, in particular, reports are circulating that news of the incident carrying accusations against government troops was published several hours before the so-called attack. So, this was a pre-planned action.”
The ministry also described as “unacceptable” calls from various European capitals for the UN Security Council to authorize the use of force in Syria.
Other leaders have also pushed for an urgent UN inquiry.
A spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said he was “giving his utmost attention to the tragic situation” and intended to conduct a “thorough, impartial and prompt investigation”.
The UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Angela Kane, will travel to Damascus on Saturday to push for access for the UN inspectors.
“It is of paramount importance that all those who share the concern and urgency of investigating these allegations, equally share the responsibility of co-operating in generating a safe environment for the [UN] mission to do its job,” Ban Ki-Moon’s spokesman added.
Damascus has described the allegations that it sanctioned the use of chemical weapons as “illogical and fabricated”.
The main opposition alliance, the National Coalition, has meanwhile said that it will do everything to assist the UN inspectors and ensure their safety.
“It is critical that those inspectors get there within 48 hours. The clock is ticking and we want to see those inspectors and we believe that the evidence will show who used those chemical weapons against innocent civilians,” spokesman Khaled Saleh told the Reuters news agency.
Opposition activists are also reportedly trying to smuggle tissue samples from victims’ bodies to the UN inspectors to prove their claims.
“The UN team spoke with us and since then we prepared samples of hair, skin and blood and smuggled them back into Damascus with trusted couriers,” activist Abu Nidal told Reuters.
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Barack Obama was corrected by an annoyed crowd in Buffalo, New York, after he flubbed the name of the city’s mayor in a speech on the university campus.
President Barack Obama was making a policy speech about his plan to give universities ratings for their cost effectiveness when he began to praise “Mayor Brian Higgins”.
“Your outstanding mayor, Brian Higgins, is here. Give him a big round of applause,” Barack Obama says.
Some people in the crowd began to applaud, but others began shouting the mayor’s actual name – Byron Brown – at Barack Obama.
Brian Higgins is the Democratic Congressman who represents the Buffalo area.
Barack Obama was corrected by an annoyed crowd in Buffalo, after he flubbed the name of the city’s mayor in a speech on the university campus
Barack Obama responds: “…What? Byron Brown. Yes. I’m sorry about that.”
He then blames the fumble on his age.
“This is what happens when you get to be 52 years old. When I was 51, everything was smooth,” the president joked.
Byron Brown, a Democrat, was not offended by the mistake. He told reporters after the event: “Clearly the president knows who we are. It was a slip of the tongue.”
In May, Barack Obama flubbed the name of Governor Martin O’Malley, the head of the state next door to the nation’s capital.
He referred to the fellow Democrat at “Jack O’Malley”, not once, but twice.
The president is touting a new program during a two-day bus tour that will rate colleges by the expected income of their graduates, compared against the cost of tuition.
Barack Obama says the plan will help parents and students make better-informed decisions about higher education.
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