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Thank you, kristinn.

ABC News Politics 4m

#Breaking: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says UN weapons inspectors “need 4 more days” to complete their investigations in #Syria

RT:

Wednesday, August 28

13:58 GMT: Israel’s armed forces are deploying all of their missile defenses as a precaution against possible Syrian retaliatory attacks in case Western powers carry out a strike on Syria, Israeli Army Radio reported Wednesday.

“In light of the recent occurrences in the region, the IDF is taking the necessary defense measures to safeguard the state of Israel,” Reuters reported a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as saying.

Neither did elaborate on which military deployments are taking place.

13:54 GMT: Iraq has put its security forces on high alert ahead of an expected strike on Syria, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said.

“All political and security powers in Baghdad, the provinces and all over Iraq, are being put on the highest level of alert,” Reuters reported al-Maliki as saying in a televised statement Wednesday.

13:45 GMT: Damascus has handed over proof to UN inspectors that Assad’s regime did not deploy chemical weapons, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Al-Mikdad told reporters Wednesday.

“Syrian government forces have never used chemical weapons – such claims are just a pretext. We have proof of this, which we passed to the inspectors of the UN commission,” Al-Mikdad said.

12:08 GMT: Missile strikes against Syria could lead to chemical weapons getting into the wrong hands, said Alexander Yakovenko, Russia’s ambassador to the UK.

11:49 GMT: Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was too soon to discuss measures against Syria by the UN Security Council before the UN investigators report on the alleged chemical weapons attack.

11:17 GMT: Saudi Arabia’s armed forces have been placed on high alert amid widespread expectations that Western governments are planning to carry out a military strike against Syria in the coming days.

11:14 GMT: The French parliament is to hold an extraordinary session later Wednesday to discuss the situation in Syria, Reuters cited government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem as saying. “The president has taken the decision to summon parliament on Wednesday to assess the situation in Syria,” she said after a Cabinet meeting.

10:59 GMT: German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle urged members of the UN Security Council, including Russia, to back the UK resolution on Syria expected to be proposed later Wednesday. The resolution will condemn the chemical weapon attacks allegedly carried out by the Assad government and authorize “necessary measures” to protect civilians.

10:32 GMT: The UN’s Syria envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, said that international law is clear that a Security Council resolution is required for military action.

10:16 GMT: American and British warships deployed in the eastern Mediterranean may carry out a strike on Syria using cruise missiles as soon as in the early hours of Friday, according to Fox News quoting unknown military sources.

REUTERS:

Evidence points to use of chemical weapons by Assad forces - NATO

UK national security council unanimously backs action on Syria

Iran’s Khamenei says U.S. intervention in Syria would be disaster

U.N. experts return to Damascus hotel after visit to poison gas site

Iraq says it is on high alert for expected strike on Syria

AFP:

#BREAKING Ban says UN inspectors ‘need four days’ to finish in Syria

#UPDATE US rules out unilateral military action in Syria

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/319107-mccain-slams-obama-over-policy-toward-syria

McCain scolds White House for ‘crazy’ leaks on Syria air strikes

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3059687/posts

U.S. spies certain Assad used nerve gas ‘after intercepting phone call from panicking Syrian def...
Daily Mail ^ | August 28, 2013 | Amanda Williams and Jill Reilly

The U.S is confident that Syria was behind the deadly chemical weapons attack after intercepting a phone call from a Syrian defence chief demanding an explanation from its chemical weapon military unit for the action, according to new claims.

Just hours after the attack last Wednesday an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of the unit, demanding answers, according to website Foreign Policy.

The phone call was intercepted by U.S spies according to the website, and is now the reason that America is confident that it was carried out by the regime.

The US and its allies are gearing up for a probable military strike against Syria that could come within days and would be the most aggressive action by Western powers in the Middle Eastern nation’s two-and-a-half-year civil war.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...