DAMASCUS/BEIRUT: The U.N. and Western powers Wednesday defended a U.N. weapons inspectors’ report into the use of chemical weapons in Syria that Russia said was biased, in a dispute that could derail agreement on a resolution at the Security Council.

 

Damascus and key ally Moscow joined forces to thwart plans for a Western-backed U.N. resolution that would allow the use of force in the event Syria does not give up its chemical weapons as it has agreed.

 

The United States, meanwhile, said it would maintain the threat of force in case Syria’s regime fails to abide by the agreement to relinquish control of its chemical arms.

 

Russia said Damascus had handed over new evidence implicating the rebels in an Aug. 21 sarin gas attack near the capital that killed hundreds, slamming the U.N. report into the incident as “politicized.”

 

“On the face of it these reported remarks are an attempt to call into question the secretary-general’s investigation team led by Professor [Ake] Sellstrom and the credibility of its thoroughly objective report,” United Nations spokesman Martin Nesirky responded later.

 

Syrian President Bashar Assad, boosted by a visit to Damascus by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, thanked Moscow for its support throughout his regime’s 30-month-old conflict with armed rebels.

 

“President Assad expressed ... his gratitude to Russia for its position of helping Syria face down the savage attack ... and the Western, regional and Arab-backed terrorism,” state television quoted him as saying after meeting Ryabkov.

 

“Russia’s positions on the Syrian crisis create hope of a new global balance,” Assad added.

 

U.N. chemical arms inspectors confirmed they would be returning to Syria for additional investigations into the use of chemical weapons in the conflict.Russia and the U.S. continued to trade accusations about who was to blame for the sarin attack the chemical weapons inspectors confirmed in a report this week.

 

Despite having jointly agreed a deal under which Syria would turn over its chemical arms stock, the two nations remain at loggerheads over who launched the attack.

 

The U.S. military will maintain the threat of force against Syria, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday.

 

“We should keep that military option exactly where it is. We have assured the president that our assets and force posture remain the same,” he added.

 

Russia said the Syrian regime had handed over new evidence implicating the rebels in the deadly incident and this would be given to the U.N. 

Moscow will review the new materials and “present them in the U.N. Security Council,” Russian news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying.

 

But U.S. 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 divided over the wording of a U.N. Security Council resolution on the U.S.-Russia deal, with Moscow strongly opposing a Chapter VII resolution.

 

France and Britain are reportedly preparing a draft resolution including a demand for action under Chapter VII – which allows the use of force and tough sanctions – if Syria fails to uphold the deal on its chemical weapons.

 

Syria’s deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, said Wednesday that Damascus was confident the U.N. 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 added.

 

Russia has said there was “no basis” to invoke Chapter VII.

 

Ryabkov signaled strong Russian opposition to the initial Security Council resolution, saying it should support an expected decision by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ Executive Council setting out procedures for dealing with the chemical weapons “and nothing more than that” beyond providing an element of security for OPCW activity in Syria.

 

He said Tuesday that Syria had handed over new evidence showing opposition forces were behind the sarin attack and Wednesday reiterated Russian calls for further investigation that would include accounts from sources such as the Internet and government evidence of alleged chemical arms use in the days after Aug. 21.

 

He said Russia was disappointed with the U.N. inspectors’ report on the attack, describing it as selective for having ignored other alleged attacks.

 

“Without a full picture ... we cannot describe the character of the conclusions as anything other than politicized, biased and one-sided,” Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted him as saying, but also added that the Syrian government had given assurances Wednesday that it would comply with the one-week deadline to hand over information about the size and location of its chemical weapons, in line with the U.S.-Russia deal. “We have received assurances here that this will be done on time,” Ryabkov said. 

He said Russia was disappointed with the U.N. inspectors’ report on the attack, describing it as selective for having ignored other alleged attacks.

 

“Without a full picture ... we cannot describe the character of the conclusions as anything other than politicized, biased and one-sided,” Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

 

The U.N. hit back at the claims. “The terrible facts speak for themselves,” Nesirky told reporters, insisting that U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has the “fullest confidence” in the team which reported this week.

 

Nesirky said the United Nations was checking with Russia’s U.N. mission on Ryabkov’s comments. “The mission confirmed unequivocally and objectively that chemical weapons have been used in Syria,” he added.

 

“It detailed the types and trajectories of the rockets used to deliver their lethal payload that led to the deaths of so many civilians.

 

“The environmental and bio-medical samples demonstrated the widespread nature of the attack. The terrible facts speak for themselves,” the spokesman added.

 

“The secretary-general has fullest confidence in the professionalism of his team and their work and findings,” he said. “They have worked impartially and to the highest scientific standards despite the exceptionally difficult conditions of the war in Syria. They will continue to do so.”

 

U.N. chief inspector Sellstrom, meanwhile, told AFP that his team would return to Syria to investigate additional alleged attacks.

 

France rejected the claims of bias, saying “nobody can question the objectivity of the people appointed by the U.N.”