Chemical Weapons

JERUSALEM - President Obama brokered a diplomatic reconciliation between key Middle East allies Israel and Turkey at the end of his visit to the Holy Land, thawing tensions that have complicated U.S. efforts to cope with regional issues including Syria's civil war. With Obama looking on, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally apologized Friday to Turkey over the 2010 killing by Israeli soldiers of nine Turkish activists aboard a...

BEIRUT - The strange case of an alleged chemical attack in Syria has taken some odd turns. Like so many other mass-casualty attacks in Syria, the alleged poison-gas strike Tuesday in northern Syria has become a case of each side in the conflict blaming the other - and counting on foreign allies to back their version of events, even if the facts seem blurry at best. Still unanswered amid the barrage of rhetoric are the fundamental questions: Was there a chemical attack? And, if so, who was behind it?

WASHINGTON  - President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday affirmed the “extraordinary bonds” between their nations even as they also exposed again their differences on how soon Iran might pose a nuclear threat. Appearing at news conference on the first day of Obama's symbolism-laden first visit to Israel as president, the two leaders vowed to collaborate closely on a full range of challenges roiling the Mideast region, from Syria and Egypt to the stalled Arab-Israeli peace effort.

BEIRUT - The Syrian government accused rebels Tuesday of killing dozens of civilians in a chemical attack near the northern city of Aleppo, the first allegation of such a devastating chemical strike during the more than two-year conflict. The opposition vehemently denied the claim and charged that the government of President Bashar Assad was behind the attack. The report of a chemical assault injects an explosive new issue into the international debate about how to deal with the escalating violence in Syria, where tens of thousands have died and aid experts have warned of a looming humanitarian catastrophe.

BEIRUT -- The United States and Russia stood behind their respective allies Tuesday as each side in the Syrian conflict accused the other of launching a devastating chemical attack outside the northern city of Aleppo. Washington has backed the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Moscow has long resisted opposition efforts to topple Assad, its longtime ally. The chasm between the two world powers was again readily apparent after conflicting accounts emerged about the alleged deployment  of  chemical weapons.

JERUSALEM - Israeli warplanes struck targets outside the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Wednesday, according to Syrian and Western reports, amid rising international fear that President Bashar Assad could lose control of his nation's stockpiles of chemical and advanced weapons. A Western official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that the airstrike hit a truck convoy believed to be carrying antiaircraft weapons for Hezbollah militants in neighboring Lebanon. The shipment was thought to have included Russian SA-17 missiles, the official said.

WASHINGTON -- Israeli warplanes struck targets Wednesday outside Damascus,  the Syrian capital,  according to Syrian and Western reports, amid  rising international fear that President Bashar Assad will lose control of his nation's stockpiles of chemical and advanced weapons. A Western official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the airstrike hit a truck convoy believed to be carrying antiaircraft weapons for Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.  The shipment was thought to have included Russian-made SA-17 missiles, the official said.  If such weapons were obtained by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, it could weaken Israel's regional military power and hinder its ability to launch airstrikes in Lebanon.

Now that a consensus is forming that Syrian President Bashar Assad's days are numbered, diplomats and Middle East experts say a troubling picture is emerging of the perils expected to confront the war-racked nation after he's gone. Fighting for territory around the key cities of Damascus, Aleppo and Homs has become increasingly sectarian, a U.N. special investigator reported last week, portending score-settling and revenge attacks by the dominant Sunni Muslims against Christians, Kurds, Jews and Shiite Muslims.

BEIRUT - Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi ended a two-day visit to Syria on Monday after meeting with President Bashar Assad, but reported no progress on halting the conflict. "The situation in Syria is still worrying and we hope that all parties would adopt a solution that would meet the aspirations of the Syrian people," Brahimi said. The former Algerian foreign minister is considered a diplomatic troubleshooter, famed for his work in Afghanistan and Iraq. But he has made little headway in Damascus.

BEIRUT - The United States faced a growing backlash Wednesday for its decision to blacklist a Syrian rebel faction because of alleged terrorist ties amid reports that the Syrian military had fired Scud missiles at insurgents. The use of Scuds, a Soviet-designed ballistic weapon, would represent a major government escalation against insurgents trying to close in on the remaining loyalist strongholds in the capital, Damascus, and elsewhere. According to one U.S. official, Syrian forces in recent days have fired half a dozen Scud missiles from near Damascus into rebel-held areas of northern Syria.