Syria Crisis

Russia to send warships to Mediterranean
Afp, Moscow

Russia "over the next few days" will be sending an anti-submarine ship and a missile cruiser to the Mediterranean as the West prepares for possible strikes against Syria, the Interfax news agency said yesterday.
However, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency said the changes to the country's forces in the region were not linked to the current tensions over Syria.

Most Germans oppose strikes
Afp, Berlin

Most Germans would oppose military action by the West in Syria after an alleged chemical attack blamed on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, said a poll published yesterday. Fifty-eight percent of those asked said they would reject a military response, while 33 percent said they would back it, according to the survey for ZDF public television which said nine percent were undecided.

Western action on Syria difficult: France
Afp, Paris

Western plans for retaliatory action against Syria for an alleged chemical weapons attack are "difficult to develop", the French government spokeswoman said yesterday.
The aim of military action "will not simply be to punish the Syrian regime and prevent it from carrying out a new attack of this type ... but also to seek a way out of this crisis," she added saying the task difficult.

Putin, Rohani hold talks on Phone
Afp, Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani agree that chemical weapon use is "impermissible" but oppose intervention in their ally Syria, the Kremlin said after the two held telephone talks. The two presidents discussed the Syrian conflict "at the initiative of the Iranian side," it said.

US sends fifth destroyer  to eastern Med
Afp, Washington

The US Navy has deployed a fifth destroyer to the eastern Mediterranean, a defense official told AFP yesterday, as expectations grow of an imminent strike on Syria.
The USS Stout, a guided missile destroyer, is "in the Mediterranean, heading and moving east" to relieve the Mahan, said the official, who said both ships might remain in place for the time being. Other destroyers in the region criss-cross the Mediterranean and could launch their Tomahawk missiles toward Syria if so directed by US President Barack Obama.