SYRIA CRISIS - Western strikes against Syria 'within days'

Opposition leaders reportedly told to expect strikes within 

days, as US and UK ramp up rhetoric against Assad regime.

Last Modified: 27 Aug 2013 18:50

Syrian opposition leaders have been told by Western allies to expect military strikes against President Bashar al-Assad's regime within days, Reuters news agency reports.

According to the report, the Syrian National Coalition was told in clear terms that "action to deter further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime could come as early as in the next few days".

The report on Tuesday came hours after the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced that he would recall parliament from summer recess to debate the situation in Syria in an emergency session on Thursday.

Cameron's office said his government was considering a "proportionate" response that would deter Assad from using chemical weapons in the future, following an alleged attack in Damascus last Wednesday that aid agencies said killed at least 355 people and injured more than 3,000.

Cameron said there would be a clear government motion and vote on the UK's response to the chemical weapons attacks.

The Syrian regime denies it was responsible for the attack.

A team of UN inspectors are in the country to collect evidence and speak to victims of the alleged attack near capital Damascus. The team cancelled plans to revisit the site on Tuesday over security fears, after their convoy came under sniper fire a day earlier.

Chuck Hagel, the US defence secretary, on Tuesday repeated previous statements that US forces were now positioned to strike Assad should the US president, Barack Obama, give the order.

He said there would "probably be pretty good evidence"  that the Syrian regime was responsible for the chemical attack last week.

"We are prepared. We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfill and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take,'' Hagel said in an interview with the BBC.

However, White House spokesman Jay Carney later said that regime change was not the goal of any action that may be taken.

Warnings from the east

Meanwhile, Assad's allies Russia and Iran issued fresh warnings against military intervention.

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said on Tuesday that such an intervention without consulting the United Nations Security Council could have "catastrophic consequences" for the region.

Russia also expressed regret over a decision by the US to postpone talks on Syria scheduled in the Netherlands for Wednesday. The US said the meeting had been postponed due to "ongoing consultations" over the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria. Separately, Iran repeated its opposition to any US attack by saying that a military intervention will engulf the whole region. "There will definitely be perilous consequences for the region,"  Abbas Araqchi, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies