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09-01-2013, 07:27 AM
http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/01/20279783-kerry-samples-from-syria-tested-positive-for-sarin?lite
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Kerry: Samples from Syria tested positive for SarinBy Carrie Dann, Political Reporter, NBC News
Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that samples collected by first responders after the reported August 21 chemical weapons attack in Syria have tested positive for the nerve agent Sarin.
Secretary of State John Kerry tells David Gregory on Meet the Press that evidence suggests that Syrian leader Bashar Assad used the nerve agent sarin in his chemical weapons attack.
"In the last 24 hours, we have learned through samples that were provided to the United States that have now been tested from first responders in east Damascus and hair samples and blood samples have tested positive for signatures of Sarin," Kerry said on NBC's Meet The Press. "So this case is building and this case will build."
Sarin is a man-made chemical warfare agent considered the most toxic and fast-acting of its kind. The odorless, colorless nerve agent interferes with an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase, which controls nerve signals to the muscles.
Kerry's statement comes the day after President Barack Obama announced that he will seek congressional authorization for a military strike in Syria. The U.S. has said it has "high confidence" in intelligence assessments that show the chemical weapons attack that killed over 1400 people - including hundreds of children - was launched by the Syrian regime.
In a forceful speech on Friday, Kerry called Syrian President Bashar Assad a "thug and a murderer" who turned chemical weapons on innocent people in east Damascus.
"This is the indiscriminate, inconceivable horror of chemical weapons," he said. "This is what Assad did to his own people."
This story was originally published on Sun Sep 1, 2013 8:58 AM EDT
video at source:
14
minutes
ago
Kerry: Samples from Syria tested positive for SarinBy Carrie Dann, Political Reporter, NBC News
Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that samples collected by first responders after the reported August 21 chemical weapons attack in Syria have tested positive for the nerve agent Sarin.
Secretary of State John Kerry tells David Gregory on Meet the Press that evidence suggests that Syrian leader Bashar Assad used the nerve agent sarin in his chemical weapons attack.
"In the last 24 hours, we have learned through samples that were provided to the United States that have now been tested from first responders in east Damascus and hair samples and blood samples have tested positive for signatures of Sarin," Kerry said on NBC's Meet The Press. "So this case is building and this case will build."
Sarin is a man-made chemical warfare agent considered the most toxic and fast-acting of its kind. The odorless, colorless nerve agent interferes with an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase, which controls nerve signals to the muscles.
Kerry's statement comes the day after President Barack Obama announced that he will seek congressional authorization for a military strike in Syria. The U.S. has said it has "high confidence" in intelligence assessments that show the chemical weapons attack that killed over 1400 people - including hundreds of children - was launched by the Syrian regime.
In a forceful speech on Friday, Kerry called Syrian President Bashar Assad a "thug and a murderer" who turned chemical weapons on innocent people in east Damascus.
"This is the indiscriminate, inconceivable horror of chemical weapons," he said. "This is what Assad did to his own people."
This story was originally published on Sun Sep 1, 2013 8:58 AM EDT