Syrians have moved some of their chemical weapons capability to better secure it, but the country's main chemical weapons sites remain intact and secure under government control, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Friday, citing U.S. intelligence.
"There has been some intelligence that with regards to some of these sites that there has been some movement in order for the Syrians to better secure ... the chemicals," Panetta told a Pentagon news conference. "So while there's been some limited movement, again the major sites still remain in place, still remain secure."
This as the United Nations main human
rights body earlier condemned widespread gross violations committed by Syrian
government forces on Friday and extended by six months the mandate of its
investigation into war crimes.
The 47-member Geneva forum adopted a
resolution submitted by Arab states by a vote of 41 states in favor, with three
states (China, Cuba and Russia) against, and three abstentions.
Syria's ambassador Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui
rejected the text as "highly-politicized and selective".
Activists said on Friday that Syrian troops and rebels are fighting some of the fiercest battles in the northern city of Aleppo.
Friday's clashes are part of a new push by the rebels to drive regime forces out of Syria's largest city and commercial capital.
Aleppo-based activist Baraa al-Halabi noted that some of the heaviest battles are taking place in a predominantly Kurdish neighborhood in Aleppo.
The major rebel group in the city the Tawhid Brigade says on its Facebook page that its members have entered the Sheikh Maksoud neighborhood to fight pro-government Kurdish gunmen there.
Meanwhile, state-run Syrian TV says government troops repulsed an attack on the neighborhood with the help of its residents.
International Positions:
"Iran has left no doubt that it will do whatever it takes to protect the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Tehran's 'proxy and crony' in Damascus", U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday.
She added that the United States was offering the Syrian opposition an additional $45 million in non-lethal and humanitarian aid.
For his part, the French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that France is increasing contacts with Syria's armed opposition.
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AP/REUTERS