Russia releases key findings on chemical attack near Aleppo

 

People injured in what the government said was a chemical weapons attack, breathe through oxygen masks as they are treated at a hospital in the Syrian city of Aleppo March 19, 2013 (Reuters / George Ourfalian) : http://rt.com

Probes from Khan al-Assal show chemicals used in the March 19 attack did not belong to standard Syrian army ammunition, and that the shell carrying the substance was similar to those made by a rebel fighter group, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.

 

RT’s LIVE UPDATES on Syrian ‘chemical weapons’ crisis > http://rt.com/news/syria-crisis-live-updates-047/

A statement released by the ministry on Wednesday particularly drew attention to the “massive stove-piping of various information aimed at placing the responsibility for the alleged chemical weapons use in Syria on Damascus, even though the results of the UN investigation have not yet been revealed.”

By such means “the way is being paved for military action” against Damascus, the ministry pointed out.

But the samples taken at the site of the March 19 attack and analyzed by Russian experts indicate that a projectile carrying the deadly nerve agent sarin was most likely fired at Khan al-Assal by the rebels, the ministry statement suggests, outlining the 100-page report handed over to the UN by Russia.

The key points of the report have been given as follows:

• the shell used in the incident “does not belong to the standard ammunition of the Syrian army and was crudely according to type and parameters of the rocket-propelled unguided missiles manufactured in the north of Syria by the so-called Bashair al-Nasr brigade”;
• RDX, which is also known as hexogen or cyclonite, was used as the bursting charge for the shell, and it is “not used in standard chemical munitions”;
• soil and shell samples contain “the non-industrially synthesized nerve agent sarin and diisopropylfluorophosphate,” which was “used by Western states for producing chemical weapons during World War II.”The findings of the report are “extremely specific,” as they mostly consist of scientific and technical data from probes’ analysis, the ministry stressed, adding that this data can “substantially aid” the UN investigation of the incident.

While focusing on the Khan al-Assal attack on March 19, in which at least 26 civilians and Syrian army soldiers were killed, and 86 more were injured, the Russian Foreign Ministry also criticized the “flawed selective approach” of certain states in reporting the recent incidents of alleged chemical weapons use in August.

The hype around the alleged attack on the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta showed “apparent attempts to cast a veil over the incidents of gas poisoning of Syrian army soldiers on August 22, 24 and 25,” the ministry said, adding that all the respective evidence was handed to the UN by Syria.

The condition of the soldiers who, according to Damascus, suffered poisoning after discovering tanks with traces of sarin, has been examined and documented by the UN inspectors, the ministry pointed out, adding that “any objective investigation of the August 21 incident in eastern Ghouta is impossible without the consideration of all these facts.”

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said the UN investigators are set to return to Syria to investigate several other cases of alleged chemical weapons use, including the March 19 incident in Khan al-Assal.

I am starting to see this is either a false flag op, or the Russians are telling the truth, of course the Russians could be siding with Syria. I think it all hinges with the UN now. We MUST all now wait. Could it be he Russians are telling lies? Or is it the USA? One of them is, and I ask, who do you trust more. Go look on ANY decent site, the VAST percentage of people from the USA believe the USA are lying in order to go to War. This is getting more flippant by the day 

Terror Bird Probably A Chicken At Heart

For years palaeontologists regarded the Gastornis as one of the world’s top predators, but new research suggests otherwise.

A sketch of the skeleton of the GastornisA giant “terror bird” deemed to have been one of Earth’s top predators after the demise of the dinosaurs was probably a plant-loving herbivore, scientists have said.

The flightless Gastornis stood over six feet tall, had a massive curved beak and short stubby wings, resembling a giant dodo.

Its size, frightening appearance, and beak have led experts to believe it was a ruthless top predator in the prehistoric forests of western and central Europe.

But new biochemical evidence suggests that the Gastornis may have been vegetarian.

Analysis of its fossilised bones shows a calcium composition similar to that of plant-eating mammals and dinosaurs.

Carnivores have a different calcium profile, because of the way the element becomes “lighter” as it passes through the food chain.

Lead scientist Dr Thomas Tutken, from the University of Bonn in Germany, said: “The terror bird was thought to have used its huge beak to grab and break the neck of its prey, which is supported by biomechanical modelling of its bite force.

“It lived after the dinosaurs became extinct and at a time when mammals were at an early stage of evolution and relatively small; thus, the terror bird was thought to have been a top predator at that time on land.”

Dr Tutken led a team of researchers who studied fossilised remains of terror birds from a former open-cast coal mine in Geiseltal, Germany.

Their work was showcased at an international meeting of geochemists called the Goldschmidt Conference in Florence, Italy.

Suspicions about the Gastornis were first raised when footprints believed to belong to the bird’s American cousin did not show the expected imprints of sharp claws.

Some experts have also pointed out that the creature’s sheer size and inability to move fast may have hampered its ability to prey on small, quick mammals.

The scientists hope to confirm their results with further studies on other fossils.