Damascus: The US and its allies built their case on Wednesday for likely military action against the regime in war-torn Syria over alleged chemical weapons attacks, despite stern warnings from Russia.
The ground for a military intervention was set out by US Vice President Joe Biden, who for the first time said last week's attack, thought to have killed hundreds, could only have been perpetrated by President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
Britain joined the US in saying regime forces were behind the strikes, and Prime Minister David Cameron said London and its allies had to consider whether targeted military action was required to "deter and degrade the future use of chemical weapons".
But senior officials in Washington told NBC news that possible strikes against targets in Syria could take place as early as on Thursday. As the West inched closer to military intervention, UN inspectors in Damascus resumed their mission to investigate a site of the alleged chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus.
Moscow, Assad's most powerful ally, again warned a military solution would destabilise the Middle East, and Syria's envoy to the UN blamed rebels in the country for launching the attack to provoke international intervention.
The economic cost also started to be counted, as global stocks dived and world oil prices hit a six-month high. Biden said the United States was certain Assad's forces were responsible for the deadly gas attacks on August 21.
"There is no doubt who is responsible for this heinous use of chemical weapons in Syria - the Syrian regime," Biden said. "The president believes and I believe that those who use chemical weapons against defenceless men, women and children should and must be held accountable."
Analysts expect to see cruise missiles launched from US and allied submarines, ships and possibly planes, firing into Syria from outside its waters and airspace. During a news conference on Tuesday, however, Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Damascus would defend itself.
"We have two options: either to surrender, or to defend ourselves with the means at our disposal," he said. "The second choice is the best. We will defend ourselves." Syria's ambassador to the UN also hit back at accusations of responsibility for chemical weapons strikes.
"Many facts tend to prove the innocence of the Syrian government, which has been subject to false accusations," ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari told state media.
Next: Syria will become 'graveyard of invaders': PM

Syria will become 'graveyard of invaders': PM
Damascus: Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi said on Wednesday that Syria will turn into a "graveyard of the invaders" in case of foreign military intervention and accused the West of inventing pretexts to attack.
Syria will "surprise the aggressors as it surprised them in" the 1973 Yom Kippur war, when Arab forces caught Israel off guard, and become "the graveyard of the invaders," he said.
The "colonialist threats" of Western powers "do not terrorise us because of the will and determination of the Syrian people, who will not accept being humiliated," Halqi said, quoted on state television.
Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad, meanwhile, said the West had pushed anti-regime rebels to use poison gas, while blaming it on the government, as a pretext for a Western intervention.
"The terrorist groups used sarin gas in several areas of the country... with the encouragement of the Americans, the British and French," he told reporters. "The encouragement of these Western countries must stop because by defending these terrorists... these groups will soon turn their chemical arms against the people of Europe."
Muqdad was speaking after a meeting with UN disarmament envoy Angela Kane, the leader of a team of UN weapons inspectors that has been in Syria since August 18.
Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar al-Jaafari told the state news agency SANA that rebels had used chemical arms to provoke a Western intervention.
And Halqi accused the West of "inventing" excuses for military action against Syria over deadly chemical weapons attacks last week, for which the rebels and regime have traded blame.
"Western countries, starting with the United States, are inventing fake scenarios and fictitious alibis to intervene militarily in Syria," the premier said.