UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon meets with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, August 16, 2013. Photo: Israel GPO.

AP – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday warned that any “punitive” action taken against Syria for an alleged chemical weapons attack last month would be illegal without Security Council approval or a sound case for self-defense.

The US and France have blamed Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime for the alleged Aug. 21 attack and are considering military action in response. Such a strike would almost certainly occur without the approval of the Security Council, where Russia and China have consistently used their veto power to block action against Assad’s regime. The Obama administration argues that a chemical weapons attack cannot go unpunished because of the council’s inaction.

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