6 Dec 2012, 5:01 AM PDT
DAMASCUS, Syria, Dec. 6 (UPI) —
Syria was poised to use the deadly sarin nerve agent against its own people Thursday after loading precursor chemicals into aerial bombs, U.S. officials said.n Syrians

The bombs could be dropped on Syrians in “tactical bombings” from dozens of fighter-bombers, the officials told NBC News.
The regime’s military awaited orders from embattled President Bashar Assad, said the network, whose report was corroborated by Fox News Channel.

A senior U.S. official told Fox News Syria had 60 days to use the bombs until the chemical mixture expired. At that point the bombs would have to be destroyed, the official said.

Syria is widely believed to have the world’s largest stockpile of the non-conventional, banned weapons.

Syria also has access to extremely toxic tabun, the first nerve-agent chemical weapon discovered, as well as traditional chemical weapons such as mustard gas and extremely poisonous hydrogen cyanide.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday reiterated a U.S. warning to Assad not to use chemical weapons, saying at NATO headquarters in Brussels Washington and the 27 other NATO powers would consider such use crossing “a red line” that would lead to serious consequences.

U.S. President Barack Obama issued a similar warning Monday.

Clinton told reporters Wednesday the Assad regime was on the brink of collapse. “It is just a question of how many people have to die before that occurs,” she said.

The entire NATO military alliance was therefore concerned “an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons, or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria,” Clinton said.

“And so, as part of the absolute unity that we all have on this issue, we [the NATO countries] have sent an unmistakable message that this would cross a red line and those responsible would be held to account,” she said.
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IDF soldiers clash with Palestinian police in Hebron
Initial reports indicate that fray sparked as Israeli patrol tries to arrest policeman

By Asher Zeiger December 6, 2012, 6:17 pm

Israeli border police on patrol in Hebron earlier this year. (photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90)

A group of IDF soldiers on patrol in Hebron clashed with some 250 Palestinians after trying to arrest a Palestinian policeman on Thursday in the West Bank city of Hebron.

One soldier was punched in the face by a Palestinian policeman in the divided city. Over 20 Palestinians were injured in the clashes, according to Palestinian news agency Ma’an.

Maariv reported that the incident started when the soldiers attempted to arrest a Palestinian policeman. Other policemen and civilians jumped into the fray and threw stones at the soldiers.

Finding themselves overwhelmingly outnumbered, the soldiers retreated while throwing stun grenades and tear gas at the crowd. The soldiers also reportedly fired rubber bullets at the crowd.

The incident took place in the Bab al-Zawiye neighborhood west of Hebron’s Old City, according to Ma’an. The neighborhood is in area H1, which is under full Palestinian control, though Israeli soldiers occasionally enter escorted by Palestinian forces.

It was not immediately clear why the soldiers attempted to arrest the policeman. The city, home to the Cave of the Patriarchs, is a frequent flashpoint of settler-Palestinian tension.

An IDF spokesperson said the army sees the incident as very serious and has opened an investigation.

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