28 Aug. 2013: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pleaded Wednesday for
a diplomatic solution to the Syrian conflict, even as world powers appeared to be
moving toward punitive military strikes against President Bashar Assad's regime, for
what the United States and its allies say was a deadly chemical weapons attack. Ban
said Wednesday, a United Nation team investigating the alleged chemical attack must
be given time to establish the facts. The investigators left their hotel Wednesday,
and two anti-regime activists said the team was expected to visit an eastern suburb
of the capital, Damascus, affected by the Aug. 21 strike, that the group Doctors Without
Borders says killed 355 people. Syria has denied it was behind the alleged attack
and challenged Washington to present proof to back up its accusations. Ban said the
team has already ``gathered valuable samples and interviewed victims and witnesses.''
He also urged the United Nations Security Council, whose permanent members are bitterly
divided over Syria, not to go ``missing in action'' as the Syria crisis deepens. Ban
was speaking in the Great Hall of Justice at the Peace Palace in The Hague, which
is marking its 100th anniversary. Without explicitly referring to moves apparently
preparing for military action by Washington and its allies, Ban urged a peaceful resolution
to Syria's civil war. `Here in the Peace Palace, let us say: Give peace a chance.
Give diplomacy a chance. Stop fighting and start talking,'' Ban added. AP: