Dizano News – Deep divisions over the Syria crisis are set to be aired at the summit of the G20 group of nations in Russia.
The BBC’s Jeremy Bowen meets Damascus residents forming a “human shield” to protect key military sites
Opening the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Syria would be discussed at a dinner later, despite not being formally on the agenda.
US President Barack Obama has already talked to Japan’s leader about Syria, and is pushing for support for military strikes against the Damascus regime.
Russia and China have warned the US not to take action without UN backing.
In his opening remarks Mr Putin told the leaders, gathered in St Petersburg, that some participants had asked for time to discuss “very acute topics of international politics, in particular the situation around Syria”.
“I suggest we do this during dinner so that we… in the first part can discuss the [economic] problems we had gathered here for.”
On the sidelines, Mr Putin’s spokesman once again dismissed evidence provided by the US that the Syrian government had used poison gas on its own people.
“We can’t accept proof that is a long way from being convincing,” said Dmitry Peskov.
The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is accused of using chemical weapons against civilians on several occasions during the 30-month conflict.
The most recent attack took place on 21 August on the outskirts of Damascus, which the US said had killed 1,429 people and released an intelligence assessment blaming the government.
Mr Assad’s government has denied involvement and said the rebels were responsible.
Mr Obama, who is trying to build support in the US for military action against the Syrian government, held informal talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the issue.
Mr 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.
Mr Abe has not stated publicly whether he supports military strikes.
In other developments:
- UK Prime Minister David Cameron has told the BBC British scientists have uncovered further evidence of chemical weapons use
- Pope Francis has written a letter to Mr Putin urging world leaders to “lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution” in Syria
- Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao warned that military intervention “would have a negative impact on the global economy”
- The EU said there was “no military solution to the Syrian conflict”.
Two-and-a-half years of fighting have left their mark on Syria, as this photo from the besieged part of the city of Homs shows
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 the chemical attack.
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.
Battle for middle ground
A new study of images apparently from the 21 August chemical attack 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.
The BBC’s Bridget Kendall, in St Petersburg, says both Mr Putin and Mr Obama have allies but the battle will be for the middle ground – those countries who share concern about chemical weapons but fear the consequences of military retaliation.
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 Mr 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.
Source bbc.co.uk
Source: Syria crisis: Clash looms at St Petersburg G20 summit
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