DHAKA: The UN human rights chief said on Monday there is little doubt that chemical weapons were used in Syria but she did not specify which of the combatants was suspected of using them.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay spoke two days ahead of the expected update from a UN panel probing for war crimes and other human rights abuses in Syria, including the use of chemical weapons.

The 47-nation UN Human Rights Council, which authorised the probe, is likely to consider a resolution on Syria before the end of its session.

‘The use of chemical weapons has long been identified as one of the gravest crimes that can be committed, yet their use in Syria seems now to be in little doubt, even if all the circumstances and responsibilities remain to be clarified,’ Pillay told the Geneva-based council, reports The Straits Times.

Pillay noted that when she first urged action to end the Syrian crisis two years ago, some 2,600 Syrians had died in the conflict.

Now the number of dead is over 100,000.

BDST: 1915 HRS, SEPT 09, 2013
RoR/Jck