Erstellt am: 29. 8. 2013 - 14:08 Uhr

No decision yet on Syria strike

Reality Check: uncertainty & political rows slow Syria response; the mood off the coast of Syria in Cyprus.

Syria

A possible impending military strike on Syria has been the top news story for days. News reports and papers are full of images of military hardware and maps of Syria, suggesting a strike is all but inevitable. But since yesterday, the situation seems to have cooled off slightly. President Obama said in a television interview the US had concluded that the Syrian government had carried out last week’s gas attacks and said it was important to send it a message that “it better not do it again”, but he also stressed that he had not yet made a decision on military action.

EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Protesters near the Prime Minister's office in Downing Street in London.

There are other developments likely to drag out any decision on launching a military strike. The Labour Party in Britain has changed its stance and is demanding clear proof that the Syrian government used chemical weapons. Prime Minister David Cameron wanted a vote in parliament on Thursday on the UK’s response, but Labour wants to wait until United Nations chemical weapons inspectors who are in Syria investigating the alleged attack on a rebel-held area of Damascus last week to deliver their report.

Later on Thursday, the Obama administration is planning to brief leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate on the intelligence that has been gathered on the alleged attack.

Correspondent Priscilla Huff reports on what’s being said from Washington:

As the world’s leaders ponder the reaction to Syria, people on the tiny Mediterranean island of Cyprus are watching with concern. Cyprus, a member of the European Union, is just 100 km off the coast of Syria, and is also host to a large British Air Force base. Nathan Morley in Nicosia describes the mood: