UN to investigate new Syrian chemical weapons attacks

The United Nations has confirmed it will investigate the use of
chemical weapons at seven locations in Syria.

The new team will try to establish who was behind the attacks, which
have mainly targeted civilians.

It comes as a UN inquiry released it findings detailing how all sides
in the Syrian conflict are continuing to carry out acts against
civilians that amount to war crimes.

Nick Harper reports from the UN in New York.

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TAKE VO

The sensitive nature of this topic was clear at the United Nations,
the first briefing from the new Chemical Weapons team taking place
behind closed doors.

For the first time this team is mandated to apportion blame, to hold
perpetrators accountable.

That's after the former mission established chemical weapons had been
used inside Syria on several occasions, mainly against civilians.

Something the head of the mission, Virginia Gamba, said would simply
not be tolerated.


SOT - Virginia Gamba, Head of the Joint Investigative Mechanism on
Chemical Weapon Use in Syria: "Any use of toxic substances weapons by
anybody anywhere under any circumstances is totally abhorrent, and
these acts will be identified and that they will be held accountable
for their actions."


TAKE VO

Gamba explained the mission has identified seven locations. Inspectors
hope to begin work at those sites at the start of next month.

So far she said her team who'll be working in an active war zone had
been helped by the different warring factions.


SOT - "We are getting good cooperation. We have been in Damascus in
December. We are in constant exchange of information, not just with
the Syrian Arab Republic, but also with about 20 or so member states,
both from the region and internationally that cooperate with our
investigation. We have so far had full cooperation."


TAKE VO

Also on Monday, came the release of the latest report from the
independent investigation group that's tasked with looking at alleged
violations of international human rights law in Syria.

Here's the chair of that commission, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro.


SOT - Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International
Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic:

"Not a single warring party respects international humanitarian law,
the Geneva conventions, or the conventions on human rights. There is
an encompassing disrespect for the rules of engagement in this war."


TAKE VO

The latest report details how the widespread killing of civilians
continues, with all sides carrying out "indiscriminate" attacks.


SOT - Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Independent International Commission of
Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic:

"The ongoing destruction of homes, hospitals, schools markets and
bakeries makes it nearly impossible for people to meet most basic
needs and forces them to live in constant fear for their lives. The
Commission thinks that suffering of Syrian people must stop now. This
carnage has to end."


TAKE VO

Asked about Russia's involvement in the conflict and allegations that
Russian airstrikes have killed civilians, Pinheiro simply said,
without mentioning Russia by name, the "situation has become more
intense… with the involvement of external actors".


The meetings at the United Nations came amid the news US Secretary of
State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov had set a
new date for a "cessation of hostilities" - a temporary halt in the
fighting - which is scheduled to start on Saturday.

However, last week a similar deadline came and went, and Syria was
rocked by a weekend of violence with suicide blasts in the cities of
Damascus and Homs.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon may have welcomed the new date,
but internationally there's already skepticism whether the fighting
will cease in any form on Saturday.

SOC