hello, and welcome to the programme. and we start with breaking news from syria — state media is reporting that several missiles have struck a military airport in the centre of the country. the air defence system at the t—a base near homs was activated, and the syrians claimed to have downed eight rockets. us officials said there was no truth to reports that its military had launched air strikes. syrian state media said there were casualties but exact numbers weren't given. if there has been an attack, it comes a day after the suspected use of chemical weapons outside damascus. president trump said bashar al—assad was responsible, adding that he would pay a big price for the deaths of women and children. the russian foreign ministry has warned the us against military intervention. the pentagon says it is supporting diplomatic efforts to hold accountable those who use chemical weapons. with me is the bbc‘s andy moore. gandhl

gandhi, the reports started coming in aboutan gandhi, the reports started coming in about an hour and a half ago. —— andy. what we know? syrian state media says this air base east of homs has come under attack. they say it is from missiles. tomahawk missiles, they believe. they say theirair missiles, they believe. they say their air defences opened up in response and they claim to have downed eight of these missiles. there are reports from syrian media that syrians have been killed, some of the casualties figures i was looking out had reports of 12 killed and 30 injured. —— looking at. i have seen reports from journalists in the area saying that over 20 missiles landed in or near the base, and a number of drones were targeted. so there are multiple reports from syria saying that the base has come under attack. there has been some video posted which we cannot verify. it purports to show some of these missiles being shot down. the syrians, certainly initially, claim that they believe it was an american attack. set

against that we have the very strong denials from the pentagon that it was not them. the statement we have from the pentagon says "at this time the department of defence is not conducting our strikes in syria. however, we continue to closely watch the situation and support the ongoing diplomatic efforts to hold those who use chemical weapons in syria and otherwise accountable". so if we hold these syrian reports to be accurate, that this base was attacked, the question is, who is doing it? there are a number of layers in the region. certainly there is one facebook site which claims it is the israelis which might be responsible. this is damascus now, a pro—regime facebook page with links to syrian military intelligence. it is saying, damascus sources in homs, attacks against the airbase were perpetrated by the israeli enemy and our air defence units managed to shoot down several missiles over the countryside. now,

we have had a denialfrom the pentagon. we haven't heard anything yet from the israeli military. at the very beginning we had almost equivocal denials from the us, we weren't sure whether they said it was then who did it or it wasn't them who did it, but now they are pretty much saying it was not them? that's right. the initial response from the pentagon to the bbc was that they couldn't confirm anything. but this is an on the record statement saying, at this time, you could say that there might be some wriggle room there, they might be economical with that, but on the face of it it seems like a pretty strenuous denial that it was not american missiles. now, the israelis, i talked about them as possibly being held responsible by some in syria. do they have tomahawk missiles? my understanding is that they do not, but they do have missiles which are very similar. thank you for staying with us, and if. -- thank you for staying with us, and if. —— andy. retired lieutena nt—colonel daniel

davis is a senior fellow at defense priorities. he jones me from washington. thank you the joining us. thank you thejoining us. who is doing this if the americans aren't doing this if the americans aren't doing it? that is certainly the big question everybody wants to know tonight. i do think that even bashar al—assad, from the denials, it is clear that it is not the united states, because you will recall that in april 2017 when we did launch the attack against a different airbase, i believe the number was 58 cruise missiles used in that attack. president trump has been on the re cord president trump has been on the record in the last couple of days as saying that if we do anything this time it is going to be a much bigger attack. so the idea that it would be attack. so the idea that it would be a smaller attack doesn't seem very likely, plus president trump wouldn't not claim credit for something if he had done that. that leaves the question, who was it? president macron has also been on the record recently saying that if it is confirmed that this chemical attack was used by syria, then he might use some attacks. and as andy

just said, there is a real possibility it could be israel, who actually attacked this same base backin actually attacked this same base back in february when there was an incursion of their airspace by a drone. if, as we have said, it is not quite clear, the us has said it is not them carrying out the attack, but if another country had carried out this attack, for example france, because we know president macron and president trump had a call not too long ago, would they informed the united states and say, this is what we are doing and this is going to happen? i can't imagine they wouldn't. i feel very confident they wouldn't. i feel very confident they would court made that closely. i don't know why they would choose to don't know why they would choose to do something like that which we would intentionally want to participate in without telling us. — — potentially want participate in without telling us. —— potentially want to. i would guess that is what we will find out. that is france, which is an ally, andi that is france, which is an ally, and i suppose to a certain extent turkey and israel are two of the

other big players in the region, also allies. would they also told the united states what they are doing? israel, i would the united states what they are doing? israel, iwould say the united states what they are doing? israel, i would say 9096 yes, israel can be a very independent player. i can't imagine turkey would have ta ken the player. i can't imagine turkey would have taken the risk of doing something like this. there are too many other possibilities that somebody else would do it, i don't think they would want to stick their necks out and potentially get some kind of response from damascus. i doubt it was turkey. i would say the leading to make candidates right now are israel and france. leading to make candidates right now are israeland france. —— two candidates. what is the military rationale for attacking a military base in a place like homs, for example? i will tell you, maybe it is to send a message, maybe it is to try to knock out any aircraft capabilities before they might try to do something larger. i don't know. i really do caution a lot of,

i would advise caution on this. we have to be careful with what happens next. russia has been emphatic that they do not want the united states to use what they claim is fake news about damascus being responsible for the chemical attack, and the worst thing in the world for the united states and our western allies would be to expand what has been a contained civil war, and then possibly have a clash between the united states and russia, or to have it expand beyond those borders. that would be a disaster. we have to be careful we don't overreact to whatever happens, however heinous and horrible and vicious, whoever used those chemical weapons deserves the strongest condemnation, and if it turned out to be a side he deserves that as well. —— assad. at in response to this, we cannot risk expanding this war, because that would not be in anybody's interests.

—— but in response to this. would not be in anybody's interests. -- but in response to this. andy is still with us. andy, as you just heard, there could be other players. you did tell us that, that discussion about this between president macron and president trump? yes, they issued a joint statement about the same time as this raid was going on, saying they had spoken on the phone and that they were committed to joint forceful action, i think was the phrase. without being specific. a p pa re ntly phrase. without being specific. apparently it was a strong joint response, they said they would co—ordinate that, the phrase that they used. that read came about the same time as this air raid was launched. but appears to be entirely coincidental now. not at any one time, as we were hearing from the defence expert there, the warplanes of many countries are action over the airspace of syria. rajesh,

french, turkish, israeli, american, russian. track british, french. —— british. it is busy airspace. there was an israeli raid on the same airfield back in february, and it seems this is a base where drones are launched from. there are reports jones have been attacked tonight by these missiles. —— drones. that might possibly explain the reason for this raid on this particular base. i was speaking earlier about unconfirmed reports on attacks on other bases. none of those have in substantiated. as far as we are aware at the moment it seems to be a single targeted attack on this particular airbase. andy, thank you. now that speak to an executive committee board member for the syrian american council. thank you for joining

syrian american council. thank you forjoining us. would this attack on a syrian military airfield or airbase the a proportionate response, in your view, to the chemical weapons attack carried out by the regime? —— airbase be a. chemical weapons attack carried out by the regime? —— airbase be alj don't believe one attack is going to don't believe one attack is going to do it. resort in the previous attack that it was very strong and decisive action by the trump administration to down some of president assad's planes. —— we saw. what is really neededis planes. —— we saw. what is really needed is to down all of the air force. contrary to what the lieutenant colonel said, saying that this is going to create a situation thatis this is going to create a situation that is broader, that spills outside the borders, what it has created is a global impact at this point. it has already reached beyond the borders of syria. it has given dictators all over the world the ability to open their eyes and know that they can operate with impunity if they operate within a certain

realm. just don't use certain weapons and you'll be fine, you can do you want. isn't caution important at this point in time, because free example, it if it is the united states that has not carried out this attack and it is one of the other players, let's savour example it is not israel either, what you could haveis not israel either, what you could have is potentially bringing another player into what is already a complicated situation. —— let's say for example. surely you don't want that. no, but what we do want is, we wa nt that. no, but what we do want is, we want a site's air force to be downed. —— assad's. this is not the first chemical weapons attack this year. that area specifically has seen at least eight chemical weapons attacks and we have seen thousands of people killed just in the eastern gouta area in a very short time span. so it is intensifying. so to

not put the necessary consequences on the 10th remake regime is irresponsible. how about perhaps working in concert with the russians, free example, to try to enforce a no—fly zone were syrian forces do not fly in the region? that kind of thing, you know, a more diplomatic manner, rather than bombing airfields?” diplomatic manner, rather than bombing airfields? i believe we have tried that before. there have been discussions about that. during the 0bama administration, the first time that aside used sarin gas it was a russian brokered deal which was supposed to take all of his chemical weapons away. — — supposed to take all of his chemical weapons away. —— assad. that was according to the russians, that is what occurred. but as we have obviously seen, that has not happened. it was confirmed in the attack last year, there was an entire un report that confirms that assad still had his chemical weapons stockpile and is still building chemical weapons. there were multiple intercepts of shipments

that were coming in from north korea and parts that were coming in from north korea to build up their chemical weapons stockpile. so i don't believe that the russians would be a reliable partner in any sort of peace deal. the russians are the ones who are carrying out and racking assad in some of his most egregious acts. —— backing assad. racking assad in some of his most egregious acts. —— backing assadlj wa nt to egregious acts. —— backing assadlj want to ask you about the chemical weapons attack, because the assad regime has been very dominant in eastern gouta, they are slowly flushing out the remnants of the rebels in that suburb of damascus. what would be the rationale of attacking people there with chemical weapons when they are already in the ascendancy, when they are already winning the conflict in that region? well, their main purpose is really just to create a dividend to change, to remove the people they don't want in the area and bring in the people

they do. —— demographic change. there are still 100,000 people in gouta —— in douma who are opposed to assad, he doesn't want them there. he wants to move them all to idlib province and get them out of this area and that has become a pro aside area. “— area and that has become a pro aside area. “ pro area and that has become a pro aside area. —— pro assad. this is becoming almost exactly a year after the attacks been 3017. —— in 2017. trump is the muchjust —— assad is pretty muchjust egging on trump is the muchjust —— assad is pretty much just egging on trump and is the muchjust —— assad is pretty muchjust egging on trump and the international community, saying, look what i can do. like i said, this was not the first chemical weapons attack. it is one of the more severe ones this year. it seems to have use sarin gas because of the effects that we have seen, the foaming at the mouth, the seizures, all the medical symptoms that we

have been seeing relate to sarin gas. so this is the most severe we have seen but it is reallyjust be assad regime trying to egg on president trump based off the previous attack. thank you very much. the is the executive board committee for the syrian american counciljoining us committee for the syrian american council joining us on committee for the syrian american counciljoining us on a breaking news story, the attack on the military airfield in the centre of syria near homs. the united nations security council is to be meeting later on to discuss the alleged chemical attack in syria. this report from martin patience contains distressing images from the beginning. this was the scene at an emergency clinic in douma. medics hosing down children, after an alleged chemical attack. these pictures were filmed by activists on the ground. some children were barely conscious.

this baby is alive, but struggling to breathe. the medics are doing what they can. but they are overwhelmed, working in a war zone, without enough medical supplies. we received many patients who suffered from symptoms compatible with exposure to chlorine gas, high concentration chlorine gas. also, the symptoms were deteriorating in a fashion that is not compatible with pure chlorine gas exposure, and that is why our physicians are concerned about exposure to nerve gas in low concentration. president trump denounced the alleged chemical attack. 0n social media he wrote... the white house is ruling nothing out.

is it possible there will be another missile attack? i wouldn't take anything off the table. these are horrible photos. we are looking into the attack at this point. the state department put out a statement last night, and the president's senior national security cabinet have been talking with him and with each other all throughout the evening and this morning, and myself included. back in syria, government troops have surrounded douma. it is the last rebel—held town in eastern ghouta. both damascus and its ally russia describe claims of a chemical attack as fabrication. and they are prepared to take douma at any cost. this footage was shot by syria's civil defence, known as the white helmets. here, they run in to the aftermath of an air strike. they find an injured man. while the politicians talk, this is the reality in douma.

martin patience, bbc news, beirut. syrian state media says the evacuation of fighters from douma is under way. on sunday evening a deal was reached between the russian military and the rebels to allow them to leave the city. douma is the last rebel—held town in eastern ghouta. reports say 100 buses have started ferrying out some 8,000 jaish al—islam fighters and 40,000 of their family members. the buses will now head for opposition—held areas in the north of the country. state television has also shown people held by the rebels, in some cases for years, now released and arriving at an army checkpoint to be greeted by theirfamilies. kamran bokhari is senior analyst with the intelligence firm, geopolitical futures. thank you forjoining us. who do you

think is behind this attack? thank you forjoining us. who do you think is behind this attack7m thank you forjoining us. who do you think is behind this attack? it is difficult to say with any certainty. it does not make sense for the assad regime, which is on the winning side, to have the need for chemical weapons and to bring a difficult situation upon itself with potential air strikes from the us and worldwide condemnation. logically it does not make sense that the regime would do that. then again, we do not have too many details and we have the reports from either the rebel side or the government side and both are contradictory. we just need more information to be able to say whether this has happened or not. surely it has happened in the past. the question is has it happened at this point? what is the picture now inside syria? you get the sense that perhaps an endgame is stretching it

but some ossified that is where the assad regime is dominant in parts of the country and then you have rebel is dominant in other parts. and then the conflict in the fighting, as it were, was not as serious as it was before. i don't see the rebels posing a major threat to the regime. eastern ghouta is the last serious outpost. it makes sense, strategically, for the regime to wa nt to strategically, for the regime to want to eliminate that. beyond the city in the north, the rebels are... they are just pockets here and there. of course the expulsion of isis from major cities and the colla pse isis from major cities and the collapse of the caliphate, that has been minimised as well, that's great. the iranians on the ground

and the russians with their airpower and the russians with their airpower and other forms of military is on the upswing. this is the trend lines that has been in the making for quite sometime. thank you very much for joining quite sometime. thank you very much forjoining us. max abrahms is a professor of political science at northeastern university in boston and joins me now. same question i asked you. who is doing this? we really don't know. i think that initially when people heard there was an attack in syria and ofa heard there was an attack in syria and of a military nature, the first thought was, you know, this was donald trump. that the us was retaliating. donald trump tweeted earlier today that there would be a high price for it leaves the allegation —— or at least the

allegation, that assad used chemical weapons. that the us are quick to deny military involvement. although we don't really know, my inclination is to believe the voices from the us military and if i were to venture a guess i would say most likely it is the israeli air force guess i would say most likely it is the israeli airforce because israel, unlike the united states, has gone previously into syria, particularly this exact target. this air base israel has struck previously. in any event, israel has flown many sorties into syria in a close eye on fashion and has not claimed credit for them at all. there are plenty of reasons for why israel would attack this. —— sorties

into syria in a claimed as nine —— claimed just try something else into the mix, could it be france?” understand that this is extrapolating from a conversation between donald trump and president macron. that is an interesting thought. i understand the nature of the question. essentially chemical weapons were a red line, france has said that previously. and once again, assad has the gang used chemical weapons. france took the initiative in pushing forward and emergency un meeting that is to happen tomorrow, presumably to potentially call out syria and maybe

claim some sort of multilateral action. and so at this point i would not rule out france either although, again, israel seems the most likely perpetrator of this attack. and briefly, what do the russians think tom are looking at this playing out? well, russia has a different take on what happened in the first place. the west are convinced that assad used chemical weapons, russia are seesit used chemical weapons, russia are sees it as a false flag attack, one committed in order to turn the international community against the regime. the russians don't like it and they said is an infringement of

and they said is an infringement of a national sovereignty. some people may counter and say well, they also have a hand in this. but the russians say they are there in syria at the invitation of the government whereas the us, france and israel are not. thank you very much. our main story here is from syria. the state news reporting that several missiles struck a military airport in the centre of the country. the air defence system near assad —— homs was activated. there is no truth, claimed by the us military, that its forces launched the air strike. hello. for much of the week ahead, our air is coming from the east but don't worry, it doesn't look particularly cold, as we'll see. not so much sunshine in the week ahead as we enjoyed in cornwall, though, on sunday.

it looked pretty nice too in inverness, broken cloud and sunny spells. scotland and northern ireland will see the best of the sunny spells as we go on through monday. some fog around to start the day, it could be quite dense in places — that gradually clearing. through east anglia and south—east england, a lot of cloud here, patchy rain and drizzle. 0n through the day, thatjust shunts a bit further west towards the midlands, maybe eastern parts of wales late in the day, with some spots in south—west england. looking to scotland, a few showers developing, not everybody will catch one. if you do, it could be on the heavy side. temperatures for the most part around ten to iii degrees, it could be quite misty and murky throughout the day. some eastern coastal parts of northern ireland, and some spots on the north sea coast as well. 0n through monday night, an area of rain expands to cover more of england, parts of wales, some darker blues, some heavier bursts developing as well as we go into tuesday morning. now, as monday begins, it'll be fairly chilly. less so on tuesday morning and frost is not a worry as we go through this week.

as we look at the big picture for tuesday, low pressures to the south of us. it's around that spiralling we see some wet weather systems occasionally, like the one we start off with on tuesday. high pressure in scandinavia. the flow of air around the two means it is an easterly flow coming into the uk but look at the colours here, they're not baltic blue, the air‘s not coming from siberia, actually the eastern mediterranean so it's certainly not cold there. so, as we go through the week, temperatures for many of us will be at or slightly above average, but there's one significant exception with that air coming across the cold north sea, the north sea coast will be chilly, single figure temperatures. some rain at times this week, not all the time. some drier and even sunnier moments to be enjoyed too. this is how tuesday's shaping up. we start off with that weather system, with some heavier bursts of rain slowly moving away from england and wales towards parts of scotland and northern ireland. the north—west of scotland holding onto the fine weather for longest. south of that, brightening up nicely. some sunny spells, there could be some heavy and maybe thundery showers into parts of england, especially south—west england and south wales later in the day.

as we go on through the week, wednesday onwards, cloud, single figures. elsewhere, temperatures could be as high as 17 degrees in london. west is best for the drier, brighter weather at times as we go through this week, and it looks like a pretty decent work week to come here in north—west scotland. bye— bye. this is bbc news. the headlines: syria says one of its military airbases has been attacked by missiles, a day after a suspected chemical attack on a suburb of damascus. there are reports of loud explosions near an airfield in the city of homs. syria is claiming to have shot down eight missiles. the us denies any knowledge of an incident. now on bbc news, hardtalk.