Special to WorldTribune.com

LONDON — The United Nations has issued contradictory assessments of
Syria’s use of chemical weapons.

A leading UN official asserted that Sunni rebels in Syria fired weapons
that contained CW. The official identified the chemical agent as
sarin, deemed one of the most lethal of toxins.

“According to the testimonies we have gathered, the rebels have used
chemical weapons, making use of sarin gas,” UN human rights investigator Carla del Ponte said.

In an interview on Swiss radio on late May 5, Ms. del Ponte, a former
war crimes prosecutor, did not say who and when the rebels fired the CW. The official confirmed previous claims by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad that Al Qaida-aligned rebels used sarin.

“What appears to our investigation is that it was used by the opponents,
by the rebels,” Ms. del Ponte said. “We have no indication at all that the
Syrian government has used chemical weapons.”

On May 6, a UN inquiry commission, based in Geneva, Switzerland,
disassociated itself from Ms. del Ponte. The commission said it was still
gathering testimony from alleged victims of CW attacks in Aleppo, Homs and
Damascus over the last five months.

“The independent international Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab
Republic wishes to clarify that it has not reached conclusive findings as to
the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict,” the
commission said.

On May 6, the United States said it could not confirm the UN assertion
that rebels employed CW against Assad forces. A State Department official
said Washington was pressing Assad to grant the UN access to investigate the
allegations.

“We have no information to suggest that they have either the capability
or the intent to deploy or use such weapons,” the official said.

  Al Qaida-aligned rebels, Carla del Ponte, not Assad regime, sarin gas, UN official claims Syrian rebels, used chemical weapons