Syria: Trump and May say chemical weapon use 'must not go unchallenged' – as it happened

13 Apr 201819.06 EDT

Summary

Patrick Greenfield

• Western leaders put off a final decision on military strikes in Syria on Thursday, opting for further consultation between allies.
• Donald Trump and Theresa May spoke on the phone on Thursday evening and agreed Bashar al-Assad’s regime had “a pattern of dangerous behaviour” with chemical weapons that cannot go unchallenged. Both leaders are yet to announce what action they will take in Syria alongside France.
  
• The French government said it had “proof” that the Syrian regime was responsible for Saturday’s alleged chemical attack in Damascus, which reportedly killed at least 50 people and injured hundreds, according to president Emmanuel Macron.
  
• The US defence secretary, James Mattis, said Washington was gathering evidence about who carried out the attack and his main concern about the American military response was how to stop the tensions “escalating out of control”.
  
• Preparations for a possible Russian counterattack on the British base RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus were under way on Thursday in the event of US-led military action in Syria.
• American TV network NBC reported that blood and urine samples from the victims of Saturday’s attack had traces of a nerve agent and chlorine, indicating that Assad’s government was responsible.
• President Trump stepped back from his promise of an imminent missile strike in Syria, tweeting that he “never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!”
• Inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are set to arrive in Damascus to start an investigation into the chemical attack. They are not due to visit the site of the incident until Saturday, however.
• Russia’s UN ambassador said his top diplomatic priority was to avert war in Syria, but he did not rule out the possibility of US-Russian conflict.
• Sweden has proposed a draft resolution to UN security council that would include immediately sending a high-level disarmament mission to Syria to address outstanding issues on the use of chemical weapons “once and for all” in a bid to de-escalate the situation.
  

For a full report on the UK’s response to the Syria crisis, read more here:

Our correspondents in Washington, Paris and Moscow have the latest on the international perspective:

For more on the situation inside Syria, read Martin Chulov’s report:

Thanks for following. Have a peaceful evening.

The leaders of the UK and US spoke on the phone on Thursday evening and agreed to work closely on their response to the chemical weapons attack in the Syrian capital last Saturday.

Downing Street released a statement following the conversation between Mrs May and President Trump. The two leaders agreed the Assad regime had “a pattern of dangerous behaviour” with chemical weapons.

The prime minister spoke to president Trump about Syria this evening.

They agreed that the Assad regime had established a pattern of dangerous behaviour in relation to the use of chemical weapons.

They agreed it was vital that the use of chemical weapons did not go unchallenged, and on the need to deter the further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime.

They agreed to keep working closely together on the international response.

12 Apr 201818.05 EDT

Helena Smith

The prospect of ever more commercial flights being re-routed is causing consternation in Cyprus, the tourist-dependent island that also hosts Britain’s strategic military bases in the east Mediterranean.

Our correspondent Helena Smith, who is on the island, reports that senior government officials have been at pains to stress that Cyprus has no part in the conflict being played out in Syria. Its

foreign minister, Nicos Christodoulides, echoing mounting concerns over the impact on the island of possible strikes against Syria, reiterated that his country was “in no way involved in what is happening, or what may happen, in Syria.”

As a former British colony, Cyprus had hosted the United Kingdom’s sovereign base areas, including RAF Akrotiri, Britain’s premier forward mounting base in the region, since 1960, he said. “There is absolutely no cause for concern. We stress that Cyprus remains one of the safest places in Europe.“

The island is expecting more than three million tourists this year, crucial to its recovery from the recent economic crisis, but the fact that almost all flights to and from the Middle East are now flying south west of the island has raised fears of tourist cancellations.

Several UK newspapers have led with today’s developments in the conflict in Syria, including the Times, which reports that the largest US air and naval strike force since the Iraq war is on its way to the region.

The Guardian writes that the path has been cleared for British military action in Syria by Theresa May’s cabinet.

The i newspaper follows a similar line, reporting Emmanuel Macron’s claim that France has “proof” the Syria used chemical weapons during an attack in Damascus last Saturday.

Following a meeting with his national security team, Donald Trump’s White House issued a statement saying “no final decision has been made” on intervention in Syria.

“We are continuing to assess intelligence and are engaged in conversations with our partners and allies,” the statement continued, adding that the US president would speak later on Thursday with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the prime minister, Theresa May.

Commercial airlines are avoiding Syrian airspace completely tonight, flightradar24’s live map of the region shows. The Mediterranean sea between Cyprus and Syria is empty, too.

It emerged yesterday that several airlines are rerouting flights after Europe’s air traffic control agency said plane operators in the eastern Mediterranean should exercise caution over the next 72 hours due to possible airstrikes in Syria.

View image in fullscreen

The former US president Jimmy Carter, now aged 93, has been speaking about American military intervention around the world and warned President Trump to avoid military action in Syria.

I pray that he would keep our country at peace and not exaggerate or exacerbate the challenges that come up with North Korea, in Russia or in Syria.

I hope he realises very profoundly as I did, and as other presidents have done, that any nuclear exchange could involve catastrophe for all human beings.

While we wait for reaction to the cabinet’s announcement on Syria, it is worth noting that the language used in the statement echoes comments made by Theresa May yesterday and does not mention a Commons vote.

Earlier, Jeremy Corbyn said it was vital that parliament had a chance to debate intervention in Syria.

At this stage, it is difficult for the UK government to say more about its response while it waits for the outcome of discussions in the White House.

After meeting for two hours, Theresa May’s cabinet has issued a statement vowing to coordinate with France and the US in their response to the chemical attack.

Cabinet agreed that the Assad regime has a track record of the use of chemical weapons and it is highly likely that the regime is responsible for Saturday’s attack.

On military action, it read:

Cabinet agreed it was vital that the use of chemical weapons did not go unchallenged.

Cabinet agreed on the need to take action to alleviate humanitarian distress and to deter the further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime.

12 Apr 201814.41 EDT

Evening summary

Patrick Greenfield

• The French government has “proof” that the Syrian regime was responsible for Saturday’s alleged chemical attack in Damascus, which reportedly killed around 50 people and injured hundreds, according to president Emmanuel Macron.
  
• The US defence secretary, James Mattis, says Washington is gathering evidence about who carried out the attack and his main concern about the American military response is how to stop the tensions “escalating out of control”.
  
• American TV network NBC is reporting that blood and urine samples from the victims of Saturday’s attack had traces of a nerve agent and chlorine, indicating that the government of Bashar al-Assad was responsible.
• President Trump has stepped back from his promise of an missile strike in Syria, tweeting that he “never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!”
• Inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are set to arrive in Damascus to start an investigation into the chemical attack. They are not due to visit the site of the incident until Saturday, however.
• The British government held a two-hour cabinet meeting on Thursday to discuss the UK’s military response to Saturday’s chemical attack in Syria.
• Russia’s UN ambassador says his top diplomatic priority is to avert war in Syria. He did not rule out the possibility of US-Russian conflict.

If you want to read a full report on today’s developments, our correspondents in Washington, Paris and Moscow have the latest.

Read it here:

President Trump has stuck to tax reform so far, but Russia’s UN ambassador has said the top diplomatic priority is to avert further conflict in Syria. He did not rule out the possibility of US-Russian conflict.

American TV network NBC has quoted US officials as saying that blood and urine samples from the victims of Saturday’s attack showed traces chlorine and a nerve agent, and that US intelligence had other evidence pointing to the Syrian regime’s culpability, which would be presented to the president.

The reports echo a statement by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who said earlier today that his government had “proof” that the government of Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the attack.

Donald Trump is speaking outside the White House about tax cuts.

You can watch his talk through the White House stream here:

We will bring you anything he says about the crisis in Syria.