Syria: Israel considers strike at chemical weapons

Washington has held talks with Israel about a possible strike at Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, which is thought to be the largest in the world.

Washington has held talks with Israel about a possible strike at Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, which is thought to be the largest in the world.
Syrian President Bashar Assad

The Pentagon is not advocating military action, particularly while President Bashar al-Assad still clings to power, but US officials told the New York Times that the option had been presented by Israel.

Thomas Donilon, the US national security advisor, was in Israel last weekend to discuss the dramatically developing crisis, which reached a bloody turning point on Wednesday when a rebel bomb killed three of Mr Assad’s closest aides.

An Israeli incursion from the air or by land would be highly sensitive, given that it has officially been in a state of war with Syria for decades.

Israel however has a track record of unilateral action there, having destroyed a facility suspected of being a planned nuclear weapon research and development centre in the eastern Deir ez-Zor region in 2007.

Its concern is shared by King Abdullah of Jordan, who told CNN that in the "worst case scenario" chemical weapons could end up in the hands of jihadist groups among the patchwork of anti-Assad forces.

"Our information is that there is a presence of al-Qaeda in certain regions inside Syria, and has been there for a while," he told CNN.

"And, again, one of the worst-case scenarios as we are obviously trying to look for a political solution would be if some of those chemical stockpiles were to fall into unfriendly hands," he warned

US intelligence reports recently suggested that some of Syria’s chemical weapons had transferred, though the reasons were unclear. Some Western officials believe the material was being deliberately hidden from armed rebel groups or Western powers.

In the past two days rumours have circulated widely in Syria that the army is preparing to use chemical weapons against rebel forces or civilians.

The White House was open about its concern, with spokesman Jay Carney saying on Wednesday: “The Syrian government has a responsibility to safeguard its stockpiles of chemical weapons, and the international community will hold accountable any Syrian officials who fails to meet that obligation.”

Syria is believed to have reserves of sarin, mustard gas and cyanide, but the full details of its stockpile are unknown as it is one of eight states not to have joined the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention. Others include Israel and Egypt.