Syria Chemical Attack 'Proof' Smuggled To UN

Syrian activists are smuggling body tissue samples from victims of the alleged chemical massacre to UN inspectors staying in a nearby hotel.

The team of inspectors has been in Damascus since Monday carrying out investigations into previous claims of chemical weapons use during the country's civil war.

However, the Assad regime has yet to allow them to investigate the area where opponents claim his forces gassed more than 1,300 people to death on Tuesday, many of them children.

Activist Abu Nidal said: "The UN team spoke with us and since then we prepared samples of hair, skin and blood and smuggled them back into Damascus with trusted couriers."

President Bashar al Assad's forces have been pummelling the area of the attack, known as the Ghouta region, with air raids and artillery strikes, in a move which could hinder access and damage evidence.

Only a few activists believe their samples may have got through to the inspectors.

Abo Mohammed said: "The problem is the location of the UN committee in the hotel. They're under heavy guard and government minders."

A child is given oxygen after the alleged attack

The development comes after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that any use of chemical weapons would constitute a "crime against humanity".

Speaking at an event in Seoul, Mr Ban said: "Any use of chemical weapons anywhere, by anybody, under any circumstances, would violate international law.

"Such a crime against humanity should result in serious consequences for the perpetrator."

Mr Ban has decided to send Angela Kane, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, to Damascus following the alleged chemical attack.

Mr Assad's regime agreed last month, following a similar visit, to allow the UN experts to investigate three other sites where chemical attacks were alleged to have taken place.

Mr Ban urged the regime to co-operate with an immediate investigation into the alleged attack, which the opposition has said killed hundreds.

The dead bodies of animals lie in a street in Zamalka

US president Barack Obama said the allegations were a "big event of grave concern", telling CNN that widespread use of chemical weapons would be "very troublesome" and would "require America's attention".

Significantly, Syria's key ally Russia has joined international calls for the inspectors to be given access to the site of the alleged massacre.

Moscow suggested the attack could be a "premeditated provocation" by opposition forces but urged Mr Assad and the UN to agree to a visit to the site in the Damascus suburbs of Ein Tarma and Zamalka.

Footage distributed by activists, which shows unconscious children, people foaming at the mouth and doctors apparently giving them oxygen to help them breathe, has triggered anger around the world.

The government has denied it used chemical weapons, calling the allegations "absolutely baseless".

US Secretary of State John Kerry took part in a meeting with the national security team to discuss the Syria attack.

The alleged chemical attack took place in Damascus suburbs

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has also spoken to Mr Kerry about developments in Syria, the Foreign Office confirmed on Friday.

In June the Obama administration said it had conclusive evidence that Mr Assad's government had used chemical weapons against opposition forces.

That crossed what Mr Obama called a "red line" and prompted a decision to send arms to Syrian rebels.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the intelligence community had been tasked with gathering information on the chemical attack, but that it was "unable to conclusively determine chemical weapons use".

It comes as UN figures showed a million children had fled the country since the civil war began more than two years ago.

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