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New intelligence information released on use of chemical weapons by Syrian government

03 September 2013 07:52 (UTC +04:00)

The German weekly Der Spiegel reported that the German intelligence agency (BND) has enough evidence in its possession to conclude that President Bashar Al-Assad ordered the suspected chemical attack in Syria on August 21.

The BND’s President Gerhard Schindler voiced his support for U.S. allegations that Assad‘s government ordered the attack on the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta, according to the German weekly. Schindler reportedly said in the meeting that only the Syrian government was in possession of such agents as sarin. The agency’s experts concluded it was used in large amounts in the Ghouta incident. The BND cited new evidence to conclude the agent used was sarin, having intercepted communications between a high level Hezbollah official and Iran’s embassy.

The French government sought to bolster the case for military action against Syria on Monday, releasing a declassified summary of French intelligence that ties President Bashar al-Assad’s government to the apparent use of chemical weapons outside Damascus last month. The nine-page intelligence summary, which included propriety French intelligence in addition to analyses of publicly circulated videos and information shared by allied intelligence services, was published on government Web sites on Monday evening. It asserts that Mr. Assad’s forces conducted attacks involving the “massive use of chemical agents” against civilian populations in several suburbs of Damascus on Aug. 21.