(25 Aug 2013) The United States and Britain have agreed that there "must be a serious response by the international community" if allegations are proven that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons on his own people.
"We cannot in the 21st century allow the idea that chemical weapons can be used with impunity," said Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague on Sunday.
Anti-government activists and Doctors Without Borders say that more than 300 people were killed in the alleged toxic gas attack on the eastern suburbs of the Syrian capital on Wednesday.
Images purporting to show the aftermath of the attack are filled with people gasping for breath and dead children unmarked by any wounds.
"We are clear in the British government that it was the Assad regime that carried out this chemical weapons attack," said Hague.
"If the regime believed somebody else has carried out the attack then they would have given access to the UN inspectors several days ago," he added.
Syria reached an agreement with the United Nations on Sunday to allow a team of international experts to visit the site.
The eastern Ghouta area, where the alleged attack took place, is under opposition-control, which makes arranging a trip across the front lines difficult.
Rebels and the main Western-backed opposition group have said they would guarantee access and the safety of a UN team to facilitate an investigation.
Hague said the delay could have compromised evidence "so we have to be realistic now about what the UN team can achieve."
The deal appears to meet the demands of the world powers, including the US, Britain, France and Russia, all of whom called on the Syrian government to cooperate with the UN and grant inspectors access to the sites.
Confirming whether chemical weapons were indeed used carries enormous stakes, and could play a large role in determining the future course of Syria's civil war.
Last week, France said that if an independent investigation confirmed chemical weapons were employed, then military force could be used in Syria.
The US Navy has sent a fourth warship armed with ballistic missiles into the eastern Mediterranean Sea, closer to Syria, as President Barack Obama considers a military response.1. SOUNDBITE: (English) William Hague, British Foreign Secretary:
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