UN chief Ban Ki-moon receives Syrian chemical report

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has received the chemical report compiled by UN experts who visited the suburbs of Syrian capital Damascus, where more than 1,000 civilians were killed in a chemical gas attack. A UN spokesperson said that Ban received the report submitted by Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom on Sunday and will share it with UN member states on Monday. The UN chief will inform UN Security Council members and hold a press conference. The report will also be published at "http://www.un.org/disarmament."  Ban said on Friday that he believed the UN report would be an "overwhelming" one confirming that chemical weapons were used in Syria.  The Syrian regime's chemical attack on civilians triggered a worldwide outcry which led the US to mobilize its forces around the Middle Eastern country. While the Barack Obama administration sought authorization from the US Senate to take military action against the Assad regime, it stated punitive military action can be averted if Syria places its chemical stockpile under international control. After Russia presented its plan in that regard, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov agreed upon the hand over plan in Geneva last Saturday, while the Syrian regime signed the Chemical Weapons Convention to avert any possible US attack.