International pressure has been building for a military strike on Syria in the wake of an alleged chemical weapons attack in a Damascus suburb. The West blames President Assad, as UN inspectors probe the site of the attack.
- Syrian source tells Lebanon's Al-Manar TV that Syrian early warning radar does not detect any missiles landing on Syrian territory.
- The UK Ministry of Defence said they were "aware of the launch" but had nothing to do with it.
- Israel also said it was unaware of any ballistic missile launch being conducted in the eastern Mediterranean.
- The Pentagon has denied any knowing of the alleged Mediterranean missile launches.
- Russian embassy in Syria says no sign of missile attack or explosions in Damascus after ballistic launches detected.
- The launches took place at 10:16 am Moscow time (0616 GMT) and were detected by the early warning system in Armavir in southern Russia, the Defence Ministry said in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies.
- Russia on Tuesday announced that its missile early warning system had detected the launch of two missiles from the central part of the Mediterranean Sea fired towards the Sea's eastern coastline.
- A military strike on Syria will be wrong and will affect the whole system of international relations, envoy of the Russian foreign minister for Middle East settlement Sergei Vershinin said in the Russian Public Chamber on Tuesday.
- The Syrian government hopes that the US and its cronies won’t resort to a military strike against them. This came today in a commentary from Syria's Ambassador to Moscow, Riyad Haddad.
- Russia's naval force in the Mediterranean Sea will not be expanded despite the worsening situation in the region, said a military-diplomatic source in Moscow.
- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will take part in the G20 summit scheduled to be held in St. Petersburg on September 5-6, according to the UN Information Center in Moscow. Ban Ki-moon is also scheduled to have a number of bilateral meetings, which will have "a political agenda," at the summit, the Information center said. "The main issue addressed in these meetings will be the situation in Syria," the Information center said.
- A BBC poll has found that almost three quarters of the UK population believe that MPs were right to reject military intervention in Syria. Seventy-one percent of people thought Parliament voted the right way, while 72 percent said they did not think the move would negatively impact UK-US relations. A further two thirds said they would not care if it did.
- Number of Syrian refugees passes 2 million mark, said the UN refugee agency.
- Samples collected by the UN chemical experts team in the Damascus suburb will be transferred to laboratories for analysis “within hours,” said a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General ban Ki-moon.
- On Monday US State Secretary John Kerry phoned the head of the Syrian Free Army Salim Idris to explain to him some details of Washington's plans of an armed operation against the Bashar Assad regime, CNN reports.
- The White House is prepared to rework language in a draft resolution authorizing military force in Syria to address concerns from lawmakers, an administration official said on Monday.
- US Senator John McCain said on Monday that a vote by the US Congress against President Obama's proposal for using military force in Syria would be catastrophic. "If the Congress were to reject a resolution like this after the president of the United States has already committed to action, the consequences would be catastrophic," McCain told reporters after a meeting with the president at the White House.
- France aims to build a coalition of countries to back military action against the Syrian government in response to a chemical weapons attack in Damascus, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Monday.
- A French intelligence report has concluded that rockets used in a deadly August 21 chemical weapons attack were fired from regime-controlled areas, a government source told AFP on Monday.
- There is only "50/50" chance that the GOP-controlled House will vote down Syria authorization, thinks Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. Saturday, US president Barack Obama stated that he would seek approval from lawmakers before any force would be used against Assad’s Syrian regime.
- A military intervention in Syria can’t be explained by humanitarian reasons as US methods to protect the civilian population in Syria cause even more damage, Kostantin Dolgov, Human Rights Commissioner for the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an interview to the Voice of Russia.
- US Secretary of State John Kerry will join the 28 EU foreign ministers meeting on Saturday in Vilnius to discuss a series of issues, notably the Syrian conflict, officials said.
- Hezbollah has promised to retaliate by firing surface-to-surface missiles at Israel if it decides to partake in the strike against Damascus.“Hizbullah is controlling 8,000 kilometers in Reef Homs and will not hesitate to participate in an attack by firing surface-to-surface missiles from Syria,” said a source from a joint operation run by Hezbollah and the forces of President Assad, as reported by the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper.
- Iran is willing to act as mediator in the Syria crisis, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has told the United Nations, the IRNA news agency reported.
- UK government is accused of "breathtaking laxity" of its arms controls after "officials authorised theexport to Syria of two chemicals capable of being used to make a nerve agent such as sarin a year ago".
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov believes there is no alternative to political settlement in Syria. "Even American partners who have decided to strike against Syria based on some super-convincing information which is at the same time top secret and cannot be shown to anybody, even they all the same prefer a political approach," the minister added. "And after they bomb Syria, they will be ready for convening the conference called Geneva-2."
- Iran is willing to act as mediator in the Syria crisis, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has told the United Nations, the IRNA news agency reported.
- Palestinians are against an attack on Syria, President Mahmoud Abbas said, while condemning the use of chemical weapons.
- Israeli President Shimon Peres backed his US counterpart, after Barack Obama decided to seek Congressional support before striking Syria. He said that US leader had the right to weigh and reconsider his moves now, rather than afterwards. "Weighing how to proceed is not the same as stuttering," he said.
- The war in Syria has displaced 7 million Syrians, or almost one-third of the population, the head of the UN refugee agency, Tarik Kurdi, says. Two million children are among those directly affected by the war. Kurdi stressed that UN assistance has been a "drop in the sea of humanitarian need" and that the funding gap is "very, very wide."
- Syria's army is on high alert and will “remain so until terrorism is completely eradicated," a security official in Damascus said Monday.
- A planned peace conference in Geneva to end the conflict in Syria will be put off for a long time "if not forever" if the US goes ahead with military action against the Damascus regime, warned Russian FM Sergei Lavrov.
- Here is a picture of US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. Earlier US defence officials said that USS Nimitz and other ships in its strike group are heading west toward the Red Sea to help support a limited US strike on Syria.
Photo: AFP - France will hand over evidence to lawmakers on Monday proving President Bashar al-Assad's regime was behind the August 21 chemical weapons attack in Syria, a government source said.
- Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdulaziz, speaking in Cairo, read out a statement on Monday. He reitterated the Arab Leagues position, saying that the Syrian regime is responsible for chemical attacks in the country.
- Don't miss the Voice of Russia 'Syrian rebels take responsibility for the chemical attack admitting the weapons were provided by Saudis' article. It received a strong outcry among the Internet users as some of them claiming that the company’s reports are more credible than allegations against Syrian government made by US authorities.
- Russia has sent a reconnaissance vessel from its Black Sea fleet to the coast off Syria, a report said Monday. "The crew have the mission... of collecting operative information in the region of an escalating conflict," it added.
- China said it was seriously concerned about any unilateral military action against Syria after US President Barack Obama delayed a military response to last month's chemical weapons attack near Damascus until after a congressional vote.
- Russia and China are unanimous in their belief that the Syrian crisis must be settled exclusively through negotiations, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
- Lavrov added that a 'regime of secrecy' by the West is unacceptable with regard to Syria and the use of chemical weapons there: "If there truly is top secret information available, the veil should be lifted. This is a question of war and peace. To continue this game of secrecy is simply inappropriate."
- French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault meets senior lawmakers at 15:00 GMT Monday for talks on the Syrian crisis as Paris voices its determination to "punish" President Bashar al-Assad's regime for an August 21 chemical weapons attack.
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