UN to confirm sarin gas used in Damascus

Ake Sellstrom handed over the report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

There is "convincing evidence" that sarin gas was used in a rocket attack in the Syrian capital, Damascus, last month, a UN report is to confirm.

Text seen in a photograph of the front page of the report - to be released later - does not apportion blame.

US allegations that the government was responsible led to threats of military action and then a US-Russia deal for Syria to make safe its chemical arms.

World powers will now try to hammer out a UN Security Council resolution.

Earlier, UN investigators said they were probing 14 alleged chemical attacks in Syria since September 2011.

'Between the parties'

The text of the front page can be seen in a photograph of chief UN chemical weapons investigator Ake Sellstrom handing over the report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

It says: "The environmental, chemical and medical samples we have collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used... in the Ghouta area of Damascus'' on 21 August."The conclusion is that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic... against civilians including children on a relatively large scale," the report says.

Mr Ban was scheduled to brief the Security Council on the report at 11:00 local time in New York (15:00 GMT) and is then expected to address the media.

Assigning blame for the attack in Ghouta was not part of the inspectors' remit.

However, diplomats have suggested the way the facts are reported may point to the Syrian government as the perpetrators.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied allegations his government was behind the attack, instead blaming the rebels.

BBC