Syria deaths: powerful asphyxiant in strike was probably sarin, say experts

Specialists say symptoms observed in footage of victims offer strong evidence that nerve agent was used near Damascus

Martin Chulov, Ian Sample, Angelique Chrisafis and Peter Beaumont

The Guardian, Thursday 22 August 2013

 

 

A still image from a video posted on YouTube showing the burial of victims of the attack on districts of Damascus. Photograph: Getty

"Expert opinion is hardening behind attributing the deaths on Wednesday of hundreds of people in Damascus to a nerve agent such as sarin, with regional and western governments expecting to receive smuggled biological samples from the site in the coming days.
Chemical weapons specialists, who have studied footage showing the dead and dying victims of the attack, said several symptoms offered strong evidence that a nerve agent was used; it would be the worst such attack anywhere in the world in the past 25 years.
Stefan Mogl, a Swiss chemical weapons expert and former arms inspector, said: "There's a significant number of videos of children's faces and of adults who seem to have been exposed, that show typical symptoms of acetylcholinesterase inhibition poisoning, which coincides with a nerve agent."
Mogl told the Guardian it was very likely the agent used was sarin. "The significance is, it's not a single case. One person with constricting of the pupils, or with excessive salivation, or with spasms, or gasping for air, one single incident is not very significant, but … I came to the conclusion that there is a likelihood of nerve agent poisoning and this should be thoroughly investigated. You see children dying, people with very severe effects. I've seen a lot of people with uncontrolled muscle movement."
Alastair Hay, another former weapons expert, who investigated the aftermath of the Halabja attack, when up to 5,000 people were gassed in Iraqi Kurdistan by Saddam Hussein's forces in 1988, said: "I'm struck by the appearance of the victims and the absence of any signs of trauma. This suggests some powerful asphyxiant. Many of the victims have individual signs suggestive of exposure to an organophosphate agent. Nasal and lung secretions are very evident in many of the victims. These are just some of the signs consistent with [such] exposure."
Mogl said there would be immense interest among regional and western powers in obtaining samples from east Damascus, where the attack took place.
Biological samples had been given to MI6 and to French intelligence members after alleged small-scale chemical attacks earlier in the year. Both governments, along with the US, then declared that sarin had been the agent used.
However, the apparent huge toll of dead and wounded from Wednesday's attack has raised the stakes, with France threatening to use force in response, and foes of the Assad regime seeming to harden their positions.
"I'm sure the UK and other countries will get samples very quickly and analysed," said Mogl, warning that a chain of custody had to be guaranteed if smuggled samples were ever to be considered decisive....."