BICOM

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel insisted yesterday that the United States would come to its own conclusions over claims by Israel, UK and France that Syrian government forces have used chemical weapons during the country’s bloody conflict.

Speaking to reporters towards the end of a visit to Egypt, Hagel said “This is serious business and you want to be as sure as you can be on these kind of things, and until I see our intelligence assessments and the results of those, I can’t respond any further.” US President Obama has previously stated that Assad’s use of chemical weapons would constitute crossing a “red line,” indicating that it could precipitate forced intervention.

Hagel’s comments came a day after Israel’s Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, head of the Research Division at IDF Military Intelligence claimed, that Assad’s forces had used sarin nerve gas on 19 March in an attack near Aleppo, which is thought to have killed twenty six people. Maariv yesterday said that Israel’s assessment on the issue is based on UK intelligence. French officials are also widely reported to concur with the UK conclusion that sarin gas was used. However, Hagel was careful yesterday to clarify that he is “not at all questioning other nations’ intelligence but that the United States relies on its own intelligence.” Hagel also said that although he had not been presented with the assessment outlined by Brig. Gen. Brun, he had discussed the issue of Syrian chemical weapons during talks with Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Ron Prosor yesterday warned the UN Security Council that Hezbollah is close to gaining access to Syria’s chemical weapons, which he described as “one of the largest stockpiles…in the world.”