Ban Says UN Inspectors Need Time On Syria

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says UN experts investigating an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria should be "given time to do their job."

Ban's statement came during a speech in The Hague on August 28.

"Just days after the attacks, they have collected valuable samples and interviewed victims and witnesses," Ban said of the suspected August 21 attack.

"The team needs time to do its job. Here in the Peace Palace let us say -- give peace a chance. Give diplomacy a chance. Stop fighting and start talking."

Ban later told reporters UN weapons inspectors needed four days to conclude the probe in Syria, and that their findings would then be analyzed and the result sent to the UN Security Council.

UN experts on August 28 visited one of the sites of the suspected poison-gas attack near Damascus, which activists say killed hundreds.

It was the inspectors' second visit to one of the sites of the alleged attack. The team began work two days earlier but was then delayed after inspectors came under sniper fire.

Turning To Security Council

There are increasing signs Western states are preparing for possible military action in the wake of the August 21 attack.

Britain has said it will seek backing from the UN Security Council for "all necessary measures to protect civilians" in Syria in the wake of the attack.

British Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Twitter the resolution would be introduced at a Security Council meeting on August 28.

UN Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said the same day in Geneva that any military action in Syria must have UN approval.

"I think international law is clear on this," Brahimi said. "International law says that military action must be taken after a decision by the [UN] Security Council. That is what international law says."

The United States and some Western allies have blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

On August 27, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said there was "no doubt" the Syrian government used chemical weapons and must be held accountable.

"At President Obama's direction, all of us and his national security team have been in close touch with our foreign counterparts," Biden said.

"The president believes, and I believe, that those who use chemical weapons against defenseless men, women and children, should, and must, be held accountable. "

The Syrian government has denied the claim, receiving support from Russia and China.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a telephone call with UN envoy Brahimi on August 27, warned military strikes in Syria would destabilize the country and the whole Middle East region.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an ally of the Assad regime, said on August 28 that intervention in Syria would be "a disaster for the region."

Meanwhile, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has threatened a "volcano of revenge" against Syrian government forces in retaliation for the alleged chemical attack.