UK PM makes case for action

British Prime Minister David Cameron made his case for military action against Syria yesterday in the face of strong resistance from the opposition and public scepticism.
Cameron told lawmakers recalled from their summer recess that Britain could not stand idle in the face of "one of the most abhorrent uses of chemical weapons in a century".
He said that while he was convinced the Syrian regime was behind the gas attack that is said to have killed hundreds near Damascus last week, there was no "100-percent certainty" and lawmakers had to "make a judgment".
Cameron insisted that launching strikes to degrade the regime's ability to use chemical weapons was "not about taking sides in the Syrian conflict".
But the outcome of the vote hung in the balance after the centre-left opposition Labour Party indicated it would vote against the government's motion, which asks MPs to approve military action in principle -- although a second vote on another day will be required before attacks can be launched.
Under growing pressure from MPs who feared London was rushing into action, the government was forced to agree late Wednesday that Britain would not take part in any military strikes before United Nations inspectors report back on the gas attacks believed to have killed hundreds near Damascus on August 21.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the investigators would leave Syria by Saturday and report to him immediately.
A senior Labour source said the government motion does not "mention anything about compelling evidence" that the chemical attack was launched by Assad's forces, and therefore its MPs were likely to vote against the government.
Cameron's centre-right Conservative Party does not have a majority in parliament and they govern in coalition with the far smaller centrist Liberal Democrats.
The government was said to be outraged by Miliband's decision to change his stance on Wednesday -- having previously offered the government conditional backing.
With British lawmakers now facing the prospect of having to vote for a second time on a different day -- possibly early next week -- it raises the possibility that the United States will go it alone with missile strikes, without involvement from Britain, its main military ally.
Haunted by their experience of the war in Iraq, a growing number of MPs -- including some Conservatives -- are reluctant to back British military involvement.
In 2003, parliament gave Labour's then prime minister Tony Blair a mandate to join the US-led offensive in Iraq on the basis of allegations that dictator Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
The weapons never materialised and Britain became embroiled in the war for years.