The United Nations Secretary-General says inspectors in Syria have found 'overwhelming and indisputable' evidence that Sarin gas was used against civilians. Ban ki-Moon has been presenting the findings of a report into an attack last month on the outskirts of Damascus.
He says it is clear a 'war crime' has been committed and he has called on the international community to join him in condemning this "despicable" act.
Mr. Ban says the world must hold the perpetrators accountable and to ensure that chemical weapons are never again used.
The inspection team was tasked with determining whether chemical weapons were used in an attack in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21st, which the US says killed at least 1,400 people. Their findings, they said, were taken from samples they collected in the Ghouta area of Damascus.
The head of a UN panel on war crimes in Syria has revealed it is investigating 14 suspected chemical attacks, as a report appeared to show "clear evidence" of their use.
At his news conference, UN Commission chairman Paulo Sergio-Pinheiro stressed that the "vast majority" of casualties of the conflict had been killed by conventional weapons such as guns and mortars.
Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chairman of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic
He added that the Commission believed that President Bashar al-Assad's government had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, while rebel groups had perpetrated war crimes but not crimes against humanity because there was "not a clear chain of command".
The developments came as British Foreign Secretary William Hague met with his French counterpart Lauren Fabius and US Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris to discuss the Syrian chemical weapons handover hammered out by the US and Russia.
Mr. Kerry warned Mr. Assad the allies would "not tolerate anything less than full compliance" with the agreement. The accord offered the Syrian leader "no lifeline" and he had "lost all legitimacy", Mr. Kerry added.
They want the agreed framework to be put into a "strong and binding" UN resolution, under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which can authorise both the use of force and non-military action.
However, Russia's understanding of the deal reached with the US in Geneva appears to be at odds with that of the Western allies, in that it believes a military option should only be on the table in the event of non-compliance from Syria.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov immediately cautioned against imposing tough penalties on Mr Assad, warning that a threatening UN resolution may "wreck peace talks".
