UK says legally entitled to take action in Syria without UN approval

UK says evidence shows it is 'highly likely' Syrian government carried out alleged chemical weapons attack last week

The U.K government said Thursday that it is legally entitled to take military action against Syria even if the U.N Security Council blocked such action.
The statement came shortly after the U.K's intelligence committee said it had confirmed that a chemical attack took place in Syria last week, and that there is "some" intelligence to suggest that the Syrian government was behind the alleged attack.
The U.N. chemical weapons experts will wrap up their investigation Friday and leave Syria Saturday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday.
The U.N.'s team of experts is not mandated to conclude who perpetrated the alleged attack, just if it occurred.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will wait for the U.N. report before taking military action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but a U.K.-drafted resolution authorizing intervention against Assad to protect Syrian civilians is almost certain to be vetoed by Russia, Syria's staunchest ally in the Security Council.

Russia, along with China, has vetoed three resolutions on Syria in the last two years.

President Barack Obama, in an interview with "PBS NewsHour" that aired Wednesday evening, emphasized that he has not yet made a decision on military action in Syria, but said he is "certain" that Assad's government is responsible.
On Thursday, the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel released a statement that Germany and French President Francois Hollande have agreed there must be a reaction to the suspected Syrian gas attack, and that they hope for a prompt report from the U.N.

Tension is heightening between the Western countries pushing for intervention, and Russia and China, who are opposed to any military action.

On Thursday, Russia's Interfax news agency said Moscow will send two ships to the East Mediterranean to strengthen its naval presence because of the "well-known situation" there, referring to the Syrian crisis.
The agency quoted a source in the armed forces' general staff as saying an anti-submarine vessel and a missile cruiser would be sent in the coming days because the situation "required us to make some adjustments" in the naval force.
Russia also began evacuated its citizens from Syria.
China's foreign minister, meanwhile, urged restraint Wednesday night, saying any military intervention in the crisis would only worsen turmoil in the Middle East.
Whether or not the U.S. and its allies take military action in the coming days or weeks, Obama made clear that such action would not be designed to bring an end to a civil war that has already claimed more than 100,000 lives. Its primary purpose would be to see that no more are killed by poison gas.