CONFLICT

Snipers Fire at U.N. Inspectors in Syria

Investigating alleged poison gas attack.

United Nations inspectors were met with sniper fire when they traveled to a suburb of Damascus in Syria on Monday to investigate an alleged chemical attack. Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continued to deny the allegations that chemical weapons were used and insisted the accusations were politically motivated. “Would any state use chemical weapons or any weapons of mass destruction in a place where its own forces are concentrated,” Assad said on Russian state television. Jordan’s chief of staff Meshaal Mohamed al-Zaban and U.S. Gen. Lloyd Austin, head of Centcom, organized a meeting with representatives from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada—while neighboring Turkey said it would support military action by the U.S.