(SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) NASSIF HITTI, ARAB LEAGUE SENIOR OFFICIAL, SAYING: "Firstly, greatly condemning this horrific crime that has been committed by the use of chemical weapons which are globally forbidden, in contravention of humanitarian morals and international law. Secondly, putting full responsibility for such a horrendous attack on the Syrian regime and demanding punishment and prosecution for all those involved in such a crime to be tried at international tribunals as other war criminals have." Turkey's prime minister is among those backing U.S. military intervention. But Tayyip Erdogan is warning against short-term measures. (SOUNDBITE)(Turkish) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN SAYING: "Unless efficient steps were taken the Syrian regime would be encouraged to commit new massacres and humanitarian tragedies. We are urging our allies to avoid such temporary steps taken to save the day, and we tell them this would cause grave problems." Syria's president, seen here meeting with Iran's head of national security and foreign policy on Sunday, says the country is able to confront any external attack. Any attack would come in mid-September at the earliest after U.S. President Barack Obama asked for congressional approval for such a move.
South Korean delegation left Seoul for Kaesong on Monday (September 2) to attend the first meeting of the newly formed joint committee on Kaesong Industrial Complex with North Korea, around two weeks after the two sides agreed to reopen the complex. The date for the reopening of the industrial park is expected to be discussed at the meeting. North and South Korea signed an agreement on forming a joint committee to run the Kaesong Industrial Complex on Thursday (August 29), the South Korean Unification Ministry said. Seoul's Yonhap news agency reported that in the past, North Korea's General Bureau for Central Guidance to the Development of the Special Zone ran the Kaesong Complex, but the newly formed committee will give Seoul an equal say in decision-making. The committee plans to hold a regular meeting once every quarter. On August 14, the two Koreas agreed to resume operations at their troubled joint industrial park after a series of talks on the fate of the rivals' last symbol of economic cooperation. In April, Pyongyang pulled its 53,000 workers out of the park at the height of nuclear tensions between the two sides, as it threatened the United States and the South with missile attacks. Since it opened in 2004, the Kaesong Industrial Complex has generated about 90 million U.S. dollars annually in wages, paid directly to the North's state agency that manages the zone.
As shelling rains down in Syria, blasting into buildings, the Arab League convenes an emergency meeting in Cairo. Leaders from the 22-nation group moved up their scheduled meeting two days to address the escalating situation in Syria. In a press conference prior to the meeting, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said Saudi Arabia would back a U.S. strike if the Syrian people did. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAUDI ARABIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SAUD AL-FAISAL, SAYING: "Our stance is that we support the will of the Syrian people. They know their best interests and know what is needed with regards to their internal situations, so whatever they accept, we accept. And whatever they refuse. We refuse." Al-Faisal blames the Syrian government for the alleged chemical weapons attack that has sparked international outrage. In Damascus, a top national security official from Syrian ally, Iran, met with President Bashar al-Assad, who says his country is ready to confront any external attack. In a written statement broadcast on Syrian state television, Assad said, quote, "the American threats about military intervention in Syria will not stop Syria from adherence to its principles and fight against terrorism..." Assad has denied allegations that his forces used chemical weapons against Syrians.
A church house becomes a sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As fighting rages in the countryside they left behind they join a church service. A pastor offers blessings to those who cling to what they can after they became displaced by fighting. The Congolese army backed by a U.N. brigade forced M23 rebels to retreat from positions they have held for months overlooking the eastern city of Goma. (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) DISPLACED WOMAN, AGNES BIZIMUNGU, SAYING: "We heard gunfire outside our house and thought we were all going to die. We gathered all the children together and ran for our lives." Many now survive on what they can. (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) PASTOR HOSTING DISPLACED IN CHURCH, BENJAMIN MUNGUIKO, SAYING: "They ran away without anything and we are hosting them in our church because they have no place else to go. Parents and their kids are all spending the nights on the floor of the church without anything to cover themselves." Some shells fired during recent fighting landed in Rwanda, threatening to pull the country into the conflict. Both Congo's army and rebels accuse the other of firing the missiles, raising fears that Rwanda might openly intervene in a country where it has fought two wars in the last two decades.
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