The Hague (AFP) - Chemical weapons such as chlorine have been used in a "systematic manner" in Syria, according to an initial report by a team from the world's watchdog investigating alleged attacks there.

The report has not been publicly released, but the United States delegate to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) quoted from it at an OPCW meeting on Tuesday, according to a copy of the statement seen by AFP.

Evidence uncovered by the fact-finding mission, which came under attack while probing the allegations, supports the conclusion that "toxic chemicals, most likely pulmonary irritating agents such as chlorine, have been used in a systematic manner in a number of attacks."

The allegations of chlorine use "cannot be dismissed as unconnected, random, or of a nature attributable to purely political motives," the report said.

The OPCW said in a statement that the investigation evidence "lends credence to the view that toxic chemicals – most likely pulmonary irritating agents, such as chlorine – have been used in Syria."

France's delegate said that the report "confirms that there was indeed (chlorine) use," according to a copy of his statement.

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Emergency personnel gather at the scene after an attack on an opposition-held district in the northe …

Syria has already shipped out 92 percent of its stockpile of chemical weapons under the terms of a UN-backed and US-Russia brokered deal agreed last year.

However, eight percent of its stockpile remains at one site and cannot be taken to Latakia port because of the security situation.

The chlorine probe came after France and the United States alleged that President Bashar al-Assad's forces may have unleashed industrial chemicals rebel-held village in recent months.

Syria did not have to declare its stockpile of chlorine -- a weak toxic agent that can be considered a chemical weapon if used offensively -- as part of the disarmament deal as it is widely used for commercial and domestic purposes.

Danish and Norwegian ships are to take all of Syria's chemicals from Latakia port to a US ship for destruction at sea, along with sites in Finland, the US and Britain, by a now-impossible June 30 deadline.

The deal was reached after a sarin nerve gas attack in a rebel-held Damascus suburb killed around 1,400 people. Damascus agreed to hand over its chemical arsenal after the US threatened airstrikes against Assad in response.

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'Systematic' Syrian chemical weapons use alleged

Substances like chlorine, which don't have to be declared, have likely been widely used.
U.S. delegate quotes report

By Ho Binh Minh and Ben Blanchard

HANOI/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top diplomat scolded Vietnamese officials during talks in Hanoi on Wednesday for "hyping up" a row over a Chinese oil rig drilling in disputed waters in the South China Sea, in tough comments that suggest relations will remain rocky.

State Councilor Yang Jiechi also told his hosts that the rig's activities in waters also claimed by Vietnam were "completely legal", China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily briefing in Beijing.

Yang, who outranks the country's foreign minister, made the remarks in a meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.

Before the visit, experts had said many obstacles remained to resolving one of the worst breakdowns in Sino-Vietnamese relations since the neighbors fought a brief border war in 1979.

Among them is Beijing's demand for compensation in the wake of anti-Chinese riots that erupted in Vietnam after the drilling platform was deployed on May 2.

"The most urgent thing is for Vietnam to stop its interference and harassment, stop hyping up the issue and stop whipping up disagreement to create new disputes, and properly deal with the aftermath of the recent serious incidents of violence," Hua said, describing Yang's comments.

Yang later met Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and was due to have talks with the head of Vietnam's ruling communist party before attending a dinner hosted by Minh.

No news conferences are planned. Vietnam has yet to make any statement about the talks.

Yang's visit is the highest-level direct contact between the two sides since the rig was parked 240 km (150 miles) off the coast of Vietnam.

Vietnam says the platform is in its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and on its continental shelf. China has said the rig is operating completely within its waters near the Paracel Islands, which are occupied by China.

"State Councilor Yang Jiechi said China and Vietnam's relations are facing difficulties at the moment because for more than a month, Vietnam has been continually illegally harassing Chinese drilling operations in the waters near the Paracel Islands," Hua said.

"Yang stressed that the Paracel Islands are China's inherent territory and that there exists no dispute about this."

Nevertheless, both sides believed the talks were "frank and constructive", Hua added.

NO SMILES

Earlier, Yang and Minh shook hands in front of reporters without smiling at a government guesthouse. Outside the building, neither country's national flag was flying, as is customary when senior foreign visitors attend meetings in Hanoi.

Sino-Vietnamese ties have been largely frozen since early May, with both sides accusing the other of inflaming the situation. Dozens of Vietnamese and Chinese coastguard and fishing vessels have repeatedly squared off around the rig, resulting in a number of rammings and collisions.

Vietnam's official Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper said Chinese ships did little to try to impede Vietnamese boats in the area on Tuesday. It quoted a senior Vietnamese naval official as saying the Chinese ships had been less aggressive, suggesting an effort to dial down tensions on the water ahead of Yang's visit.

While communist parties rule both countries and trade has taken off in recent years, Vietnam has long been suspicious of its giant neighbor, especially over China's claims to almost the entire South China Sea. Ordinary Vietnamese are also quickly angered by any perceived bullying from China.

The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to parts of the potentially energy-rich waters.

The deployment of the Haiyang Shiyou 981 rig triggered anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam in which four people were killed during a rampage of destruction and looting of factories believed to be owned by Chinese companies. Many of the factories were Taiwanese-owned.

Vietnam detained several hundred people in the aftermath of the violence. Around a dozen people have been tried and given jail terms of up to three years.

Prime Minister Dung last month said his government was considering taking legal action against China. That drew an angry response from Beijing. China has said the rig will explore until mid-August. It has a good chance of finding enough gas to put the area into production, Chinese industry experts have said.

(Additional reporting by Nguyen Ha Minh; Writing by Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Dean Yates)

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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's president said Wednesday that government forces will unilaterally cease fire to allow pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country a chance to lay down weapons or leave the country, a potential major development to bring peace to the country.

Petro Poroshenko's plan, announced following conversations with Russian and German leaders, aims to end two months of fighting in eastern provinces that form the nation's industrial heartland. It could also help ease the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War, which was triggered by Moscow's annexation of Crimea that followed the ouster of Ukraine's pro-Russia president.

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a possible cease-fire in a phone conversation with Poroshenko late Tuesday. Poroshenko's office said he also discussed his peace plan with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"The plan will begin with my order for a unilateral ceasefire," Poroshenko told reporters in Kiev. "I can say that the period of the ceasefire will be rather short. We anticipate, that immediately after this, the disarming of the illegal military formations will take place."

He said that those who lay down arms and haven't committed grave crimes will be granted amnesty, and there will be joint patrols against looters and other criminals.

Poroshenko didn't say when the cease-fire could be declared, but the country's defense minister, Mykhailo Koval, was quoted as saying the cease-fire could begin "literally within days."

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A pro-Russian fighter guards the site of remnants of a downed Ukrainian army aircraft Il-76 at the a …

Any such cease-fire would raise the question of whether the separatists would respect it, and whether Russia had the desire or the ability to persuade them to do so.

Russia has denied Ukrainian and Western claims that it was fomenting the insurgency in the east by sending troops and weapons, insisting that Russian nationals among the rebels are volunteers. Some top rebel leaders visited Moscow Tuesday and met with senior officials and lawmakers.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking in Baku, Azerbaijan, said that any cease-fire should be "comprehensive," not temporary. However, he said that if it was followed by negotiations "then it could be the step President Poroshenko has promised and which in general we were all waiting for."

Separatists have seized government buildings, held disputed referendums and declared independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions along Ukraine's eastern border with Russia. Ukrainian troops have struggled to suppress the insurgents, who on Saturday shot down a military transport plane, killing all 49 on board. Authorities say more than 300 people have died in fighting.

Poroshenko was elected after a protest movement drove his predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych, from office in February.

In his inaugural address June 7, Poroshenko said he was willing to negotiate with people in the region, but not with "terrorists" with "blood on their hands." He proposed an amnesty for separatists who have not committed violent acts, early regional elections and new efforts to create jobs in the area.

Report: Ukraine president offers cease-fire

President Petro Poroshenko has proposed a truce to allow pro-Russian forces a chance to lay down weapons.
Phone call with Putin

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Baghdad (AFP) - A week-long militant offensive that has overrun swathes of Iraq is "life-threatening" for the country and a danger to the whole region, the UN envoy to Baghdad told AFP.

Nickolay Mladenov's remarks came as militants made gains north of the capital and fighting reached the confessionally-mixed city of Baquba, just 60 kilometres (35 miles) from Baghdad, with security forces struggling to halt the assault.

The crisis has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and sparked fears the violence could affect the country's critical oil production, with militants having declared they will push on towards Baghdad and the southern Shiite holy city of Karbala.

"Right now, it's life-threatening for Iraq but it poses a serious danger to the region," Mladenov said in an interview on Monday.

"Therefore, there needs to be a realisation in the region. The Iraq crisis must be solved by the Iraqis but they cannot do that without the international community and the constructive cooperation of the region."

"Otherwise, it risks becoming a regional crisis."

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He added that "Iraq faces the biggest threat to its sovereignty and territorial integrity" in years.

Mladenov, the special representative of the UN secretary general, told AFP the "national crisis" had strained relations between the country's three main communities -- Shiite Arabs, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.

"The political dynamics of the country have changed," he said, speaking in his office.

- Political action needed -

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In this Tuesday, June 17, 2014 image taken from video obtained from British Broadcaster Sky, which h …

Militants, led by jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), have taken control of all of one province and parts of three others north of Baghdad in a swift offensive.

Soldiers and police retreated en masse as the insurgents, among them fighters loyal to ISIL and other groups such as supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, swept into Iraq's second city of Mosul a week ago, leaving vehicles and even uniforms in their wake.

Their retreat, despite their numerical advantage, is the result of what experts say are myriad problems, ranging from lacklustre training and low morale, to corruption and an atmosphere of simmering sectarianism.

Violence in Iraq has worsened considerably over the past year, even before the recent offensive, partially attributed by diplomats and analysts to anger in the Sunni Arab community over perceived mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government.

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That anger, they say, makes Sunnis less likely to cooperate with the security forces and provide intelligence, helping foster an environment of instability.

Mladenov noted, however, that along with tackling the insurgents on the battlefield, Iraq would have to propose a "strong political package... to be able to address the concerns of people."

He said any long-term solutions would need to be addressed "only through an inclusive democratic process", and warned many Iraqi leaders were "playing politics".

"They need to come together, rather than play the 'blame game'," he said.

The crisis has seen the US weigh the possibility of drone strikes and hold brief talks with long-time foe Iran, Iraq's eastern neighbour, while several countries have responded by evacuating their nationals and downsizing their embassies.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A wooden boat carrying Indonesians home in a storm sank in choppy seas off Malaysia's west coast early Wednesday, leaving 32 people missing and five dead, Malaysian officials said. At least 60 people survived.

The boat capsized shortly after midnight about 2 nautical miles (3.7 kilometers) from shore on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur while trying to leave Malaysia illegally for Aceh province in Indonesia, maritime agency official Mohamad Hambali Yaakup said.

Tens of thousands of Indonesians work without legal permits in plantations and other industries in Malaysia, and they travel between the countries by crossing the narrow Strait of Malacca, often in poorly equipped boats.

The passengers in the boat that sank were believed to be heading home before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Hambali said survivors were rescued at sea and found on land after swimming to safety; they included 12 women and a child. Those dead were a woman and four men, he added.

The survivors were being questioned by police and immigration authorities, and Indonesian embassy officials were also on the scene. A rescue department photo showed about two dozen survivors, who had little belongings with them, sitting outside a building.

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In this photo released by Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department, Indonesians rest in Carey Island, ou …

A ship, eight boats and a helicopter were searching for further survivors.

Rescuers were seen recovering a body from sea, laying the dead onto a boat desk and carrying a body on land in Pantai Kelanang, near the sinking.

Police Superintendent Azman Abdul Razak said 100 personnel were involved in the rescue effort.

Hambali said authorities are still investigating why the boat sank but rough seas and an overloaded boat could have been factors. Some survivors also claimed the boat was leaking, he said, and police told local media the boat capsized during a storm.

The boat's capacity was 50-60 people, but it was believed to be carrying 97. Hambali said some survivors may have swum to shore and gone into hiding.

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Dozens missing after boat sinks off Malaysia

A wooden boat carrying Indonesians home in a storm sinks in choppy seas, leaving 32 people missing and 5 dead.
At least 60 survivors