UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon warned on Tuesday that all parties should not rush to military action before UN investigations results come out, as the U.S. government is launching a lobbying campaign seeking Congressional approval for a strike against Syria.
Ban made the appeal during a brief news conference at the UN headquarters before departing to St. Petersburg, Russia, for a summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) slated for Thursday and Friday.
All bio-medical and environmental samples taken from the site of an alleged Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs, where hundreds of civilians were reportedly killed, will be in designated laboratories by Wednesday, the UN chief said.
On Saturday, the day UN inspectors completed their probe in Syria, U.S. President Barack Obama blamed the Syrian government for the alleged use of chemical weapons outside Damascus and announced a surprise decision to seek the authorization of Congress for the military strike against the Syrian government.
Calling for no rush into any attack, Ban said the experts were working around the clock and would do their utmost to expedite the process. But he also stressed the importance of not jeopardizing the scientific timeline required for accurate analysis.
"The mission's success is in everyone's interest," he said.
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"Since the horrendous attacks in the Ghouta area of Damascus two weeks ago, the United Nations mission ... has been working urgently to establish the facts regarding the nature and extent of any use of chemical weapons," he said.
"I have called for the mission to be given every opportunity to complete its task," Ban said in a clear message to the United States to withhold its imminent attacks. "The United Nations investigation is uniquely placed to independently establish the facts in an objective and impartial manner."
According to Xinhua, Russia reported weeks ago its investigation of an earlier alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria, which showed that the attack was carried out by the opposition forces in Syria.
Ban said he has already briefed the 15 members of the Security Council on the status of the investigation, adding that the UN high representative for disarmament affairs, Angela Kane, was to brief other UN member states later in the day.
Ban made it clear that the use of the banned weapons cannot be tolerated and appealed for unity among the Security Council member states in developing an appropriate response, should the chemical weapons allegations prove to be true.
"As I have stressed repeatedly, if confirmed, any use of chemical weapons by anyone under any circumstances would be a serious violation of international law and an outrageous war crime, " he said. "Any perpetrators must be brought to justice ... There should be no impunity."
Noting that the Security Council has a duty to move beyond the current stalemate and show leadership, Ban warned against any punitive measures which could prove counterproductive and called on the Geneva II conference on Syria to be convened as soon as possible.
"We must consider the impact of any punitive measure on efforts to prevent further bloodshed and facilitate a political resolution of the conflict. The turmoil in Syria and across the region serves nobody," he said.
At the upcoming G20 summit, which is designed to focus on economic issues, the UN chief said he would "engage with world leaders on this tragedy, including humanitarian assistance for the more than 2 million refugees and 4.2 million Syrians who have been displaced internally."
"It is imperative to end this war," he said.
