Damascus and key ally Moscow joined forces today in a bid to thwart plans for a Western-backed UN resolution on Syria's chemical weapons that allows the use of force.
Russia came out swinging, saying the Syrian regime had handed over new evidence implicating the rebels in an August 21 sarin gas attack near Damascus that killed hundreds, while slamming a UN report into the incident as "biased".
Syria, boosted by a visit to Damascus by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, thanked Moscow for its support and said it was confident the UN would not adopt a Chapter VII resolution that would allow the use of force.
The twin-pronged diplomatic counter-offensive came as UN chemical weapons inspectors confirmed they would be returning to Syria for additional investigations into the use of the deadly weapons in the country's conflict.
Russia and the United States continued to trade accusations about who was to blame for the sarin attack that the chemical weapons inspectors confirmed in a report this week.
Despite having jointly agreed a deal under which Syria will turn over its chemical weapons stock, the two nations remain at loggerheads over who carried out the attack.
Russia says the Syrian regime had handed over new evidence implicating the rebels in the deadly incident.
But US President Barack Obama has said it was "inconceivable" that anyone other than the Syrian regime could have carried out the attack.
The international community is also divided over the wording of a UN Security Council resolution on the US-Russian deal, with Moscow strongly opposing a Chapter VII resolution.
Syria's deputy foreign minister, Faisal Muqdad, told AFP today that Damascus was confident the UN would not adopt a Chapter VII resolution.
"I think this is a big lie used by the Western powers; we believe it will never be used," he said in Damascus.
"There is no justification for that, and the Russian-American agreement does not have such a thing," he added.
