UN team finds no proof on chemical weapons [View all]

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Source: Agence France-Presse

United Nations investigators have listed a wide range of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Syria, but provided no conclusion on the issue of chemical weapons use.

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The report does not address the period after July 15, which includes the August 21 suspected chemical attack on civilians near Damascus that sparked international outrage and could still lead to US-led military strikes, despite intense diplomatic efforts to avoid them.

In Wednesday's statement though, the four-member commission led by Brazilian Paulo Sergio Pinheiro insisted on the "need for accountability, both to bring to justice those who used them (chemical weapons, if confirmed) ... and to deter anyone else from using these abhorrent methods of warfare."

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"Failure to bring about a political settlement has allowed the conflict not only to deepen in its intransigence but also to widen, expanding to new actors and to new, previously unimaginable crimes," the commission said.

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Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/un-team-finds-no-proof-on-chemical-weapons-20130911-2tkv1.html