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"The United Nations released its report on Monday, confirming the usage of chemical weapons in Syria.\nOn Aug. 21, President Bashar al-Assad allegedly unleashed a chemical weapons attack in a small suburb outside Damascus, killing at least 1,429 people, according to U.S. officials. As the United States contemplated military retaliation, the UN deployed an investigative team to assess the claim. According to the report:\nOn the basis of the evidence obtained during our investigation of the Ghouta incident: the conclusion is that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic, also against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale. In particular, the environmental, chemical and medical samples, we have collected, provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used in Ein Tarma, Moadamiyah and Zamalka in the Ghouta area of Damascus.\nSEE ALSO: War in Syria: Interactive Map Outlines Major Battle Zones\n\nWith a hard push from Russia, al-Assad agreed last week to hand over his stockpile of chemical weapons to international control. The U.S. and Russia agreed to the deal on Saturday, stating that Syria must remove or destroy all chemical weapons by next year.\nUnited Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons  in the Syrian Arab Republic\n\nImage: MOHAMED ABDULLAH/AFP/Getty Images"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/09/16/united-nations-report-syria/>