North Korea has likely amassed between 2,500 and 5,000 tons of chemical weapons, including extremely toxic nerve agents such as sarin, in recent years, according to estimates published in a joint report on Tuesday by the RAND Corporation and South Korea’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, the website NK News reported.
Read More: Breitbart
Reports out of Syria suggest that they have accepted the Russian proposal to place their chemical weapons arsenal under international control. President Obama has responded saying that if the reports are true the deal would be a “significant breakthrough”.
The UK Prime Minister, responded saying the plan must be “serious and genuine”.
Read More: The Telegraph
In an interview on US television President Assad of Syria warned the US that “everything” would be possible if the US were to strike the country. Assad also repeatedly denied claims that he had used his chemical weapons stoke pile against his own people.
“You’re going to pay the price if you’re not wise. There are going to be repercussions,” Assad told CBS television in an interview recorded in Damascus and broadcast on Monday. “It’s an area where everything is on the brink of explosion. You have to expect everything.”
Also today Russia has urged Syria to hand it’s chemical weapons over to the international community. Russia’s plan was welcomed by the US and European leaders. Since the chemical weapons attack Russia has stood by the Syrian regime, claiming that rebels carried out the attack. However, most in the international community believe the weight of evidence points to the Assad government was to blame for the attack.
Read More: France 24
The medical aid charity Medecins Sans Frontieres has said it has treated around 3,600 patients in Syrian hospitals it works with who had “neurotoxic symptoms”, and they report 355 deaths.
MSF say the patients arrived at the hospitals on August 21st, the day Syrian rebel forces say the regime launched a chemical weapons attack. So far the Assad regime has denied the attacks, and has refused access to the site by UN inspectors.
MSF say they have no way to scientifically prove that the patients symptoms were caused by the use of chemical weapons, however MSF Director of Operations Bart Janssens, said “MSF can neither scientifically confirm the cause of these symptoms nor establish who is responsible for the attack,”
“However, the reported symptoms of the patients, in addition to the epidemiological pattern of the events, characterised by the massive influx of patients in a short period of time, the origin of the patients, and the contamination of medical and first aid workers, strongly indicate mass exposure to a neurotoxic agent.
“This would constitute a violation of international humanitarian law, which absolutely prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons.”
The attack has led to wide spread international condemnation, and calls for the international community to take action against the Assad government. President Obama has previously said the use of chemical weapons would constitute the crossing of a red line and would change his calculations.
Read More: The BBC
As the civil war continues in Syria, there are renewed fears that Bashar al-Assad may use Chemical Weapons against his own people.
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said at a press conference after a meeting with NATO leaders, “Our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons, or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria… And so as part of the absolute unity that we all have on this issue we have sent an unmistakable message that this would cross a red line and those responsible would be held to account.”
The United States has pledged support for the Syrian opposition. There will be a meeting in Morocco next week to discuss what further steps need to be undertaken to help resolve the conflict in Syria.
Read More ‘Desperate’ Assad could use chemical weapons in Syria, says Hillary Clinton- The Telegraph
In Israel there was a rush to get gas masks on Wednesday over fears of Syria’s chemical weapons being used against them.
Until recently, there was no concern in Israel about becoming involved in the conflict inside Syria as the focus of Israel has been on the Iranian threat.
The nerve and mustard gas agents that are believed to be stockpiled in Syria could be open to fall into the hands of rouge groups such as Islamic militants from Hezbollah or others should Syria’s current government fall.
“For us, that’s a casus belli, or red line,” stated Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday. On Israeli radio he indicated that Israel would act immediately to prevent that.
See Israelis fear breach of Syria’s chemical arsenal – International News | San Francisco Luxury Living.