(Reuters) People in Damascus stocked up on supplies on Wednesday and some left homes close to potential targets as U.S. officials sketched out plans for multi-national air strikes on Syria that could last for days.
United Nations chemical weapons experts completed a second field trip to rebel-held suburbs, looking for evidence of what - and who - caused an apparent poison gas attack that residents say killed hundreds of people a week ago.
But as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon appealed for unity among world powers and sought more time for the inspectors to complete their work, Washington and its European and Middle East allies said their minds were made up and that President Bashar al-Assad must face retribution for using banned weapons against his people.
Syria's government, supported notably by its main arms supplier Russia, cried foul. It blamed rebel "terrorists" for releasing the toxins with the help of the United States, Britain and France, and warned it would be a "graveyard of invaders".
Syrian officials say the West is playing into the hands of its al Qaeda enemies. The presence of Islamist militants among the rebels has deterred Western powers from arming Assad's foes. But the West says it must now act to stop the use of poison gas.
Britain pushed the other four veto-holding members of the U.N. Security Council at a meeting in New York to authorize military action against Assad to protect Syrian civilians - a move certain to be blocked by Russia and, probably, China.
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