[Faline]

The US says it fears Syria's President Bashar al-Assad may resort to using chemical weapons against his people.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the US was concerned that such an action might be taken by "an increasingly beleaguered regime".

A Syrian official has insisted it would "never, under any circumstances" use such weapons, "if such weapons exist".

Meanwhile, the United Nations says it is pulling "all non-essential international staff" out of Syria.

As many as 25 out of 100 international staff could leave this week, the UN news agency Irin reports.

All humanitarian missions outside Damascus will be halted for the time being.

"The situation is significantly changing," Sabir Mughal, the UN's chief security adviser in Syria, said. "There is an increased risk for humanitarians as a result of indiscriminate shooting or clashes between the parties".

The BBC understands that the European Union is also pulling out its diplomats and international personnel.

Earlier, Egypt Air ordered the return of a flight on its way to Damascus amid reports of a "bad security situation" around the airport - only a day after ending its suspension of flights following violence around the airport and in the capital's suburbs last week.

Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi is reported to have already left the country, even before reports that he had been dismissed, ostensibly for making statements out of line with government policy.

Rebels have been making gains on the ground, and the head of the Arab League has said the Syrian government could fall at any moment, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from Beirut.

But it still holds the capital, parts of the second city Aleppo, and other centres and one diplomat said it still has a lot of fight left in it.

'Reprehensible'
The BBC's Paul Adams in Washington says it is not the first time US officials have voiced concern over chemical weapons in Syria, but as the situation deteriorates, so those concerns mount.

No-one has said what the latest indications are but one unnamed US official spoke to the New York Times of "potential chemical weapon preparation".

Mr Carney told reporters that such was the concern about the possibility of Syria using such weapons, Washington was preparing contingency plans.

He did not give details of what those plans would be, but he echoed a similar warning made earlier by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

She had said the use of chemical weapons was a "red line for the United States", adding that "we're certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur.

"Once again we issue a very strong warning to the Assad regime that their behaviour is reprehensible. Their actions against their own people have been tragic," she told a joint news conference with her Czech counterpart in Prague.

They were responding to reports quoting US and European officials as saying that the movement of chemical weapons by the Syrian military has been detected in recent days.

But the claims were rejected by Damascus. A foreign ministry spokesman was quoted by state television as saying: "Syria confirms repeatedly it will never, under any circumstances, use chemical weapons against its own people, if such weapons exist."

Syria is believed to hold chemical weapons - including mustard gas and sarin, a highly toxic nerve agent - at dozens of sites around the country.

The CIA has said those weapons "can be delivered by aircraft, ballistic missile, and artillery rockets".

'Not inveterate defenders'
Intelligence that the Syrian government was contemplating the use of the missiles is what led neighbouring Turkey to request Nato Patriot missile defences along its borders, the Guardian newspaper quoted Turkish officials as saying on Sunday.

Several Syrian mortar shells - aimed at rebel targets close to the border - have landed in Turkish territory in recent weeks, leading Ankara to ask Nato for the deployment of the sophisticated anti-missile batteries.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin, after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Monday, warned against such a move, fearing it would "exacerbate" rather than "defuse" tensions on the border.

Talks between the two men were primarily meant to centre on boosting trade ties, but made the headlines because of their discussions on Syria.

Moscow has remained a key ally of Syria during the 22-month conflict, while Ankara now backs the rebels trying to oust President Assad.

There was no breakthrough, but Mr Putin said that although they "cannot find a mutual approach on the methods of how to regulate the situation in Syria... our assessment of the situation completely coincides."

And he stated: ""We are not inveterate defenders of the current regime in Syria. I've already said it many times. We are not advocates of the incumbent Syrian leadership. Other things worry us, like what will happen in the future?"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20583966

[Hvergelmir]

[Kanda444]

Originally Posted by Hvergelmir ↗

^^ this...

[Hvergelmir]

An excuse to start ANOTHER war.

[mengala]

Originally Posted by Hvergelmir ↗

An excuse to start ANOTHER war.

True, they used the same excuse to invade Iraq, saying Iraq had Nukes but they did not. Same trick they use every time, but people keep getting fooled.

How's that saying go? fool me once..

[Deluxe247]

This is the beginning of the end my friends.

[kasapin]

When news liek that start braking the news .. about a month later the war starts.
Lets see if this time they also add a colourful story about babyes killed in hospitals from the syryan gov.

[BigFoot]

Digging my Bunker already...(but it will probably end up as my grave)

[ices]

TIN FOIL HATS LADS!

Anyway, what will keep me interested is the dying breaths of a regime that until a year ago thought it was the only power in the region.

What will happen? Will Assad get his just deserts knowing full well the fate of Saddam and Gaddafi? They didn't see it coming and they did not use a last resort method, however the Syrian army and its leaders have a lot to lose in this and there is a lot of hate towards them.

Families of men in the army would be butchered for starters.

[mengala]

Originally Posted by ices ↗

TIN FOIL HATS LADS!

Anyway, what will keep me interested is the dying breaths of a regime that until a year ago thought it was the only power in the region.

What will happen? Will Assad get his just deserts knowing full well the fate of Saddam and Gaddafi? They didn't see it coming and they did not use a last resort method, however the Syrian army and its leaders have a lot to lose in this and there is a lot of hate towards them.

Families of men in the army would be butchered for starters.

These rebels fighting assad are al-qaeda affilated, if you think they will improve Syria you are either delusional or smoking crack.