Síria: Ocidente prepara o ataque

AMMAN/BEIRUT, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Western forces could attack Syria within days, the United States and its allies have told rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, opening up new risks in a war that is spreading hatreds across the Middle East. Participants at a meeting in Istanbul told Reuters that U.S. and other diplomats warned Syrian opposition leaders on Monday to expect action that would punish Assad for poison gas attacks - and to be ready to negotiate if his government sues for peace. The United States said its forces in the region were "ready to go", but the White House insisted President Barack Obama was still considering various options, not just military force, and was not intent on bringing about "regime change" in Damascus. British Prime Minister David Cameron, anxious like Obama not to emulate the Afghan and Iraqi entanglements that beset their predecessors, said any strikes would be "specific", a penalty for the use of chemical weapons, and would not drag the allies deeper into a Syrian civil war now well into its third year. He recalled parliament for a debate on Syria on Thursday. United Nations chemical weapons investigators, who finally crossed the frontline to take samples on Monday, put off until Wednesday a second trip to the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus where activists say hundreds of civilians died a week ago. But while U.N. evidence of chemical warfare could bolster a Western argument for intervention in the face of likely Russian and Chinese opposition at the United Nations, Western leaders - and the Arab League - have already declared Assad guilty. Ahmad Jarba, president of the rebel Syrian National Coalition, met envoys from 11 countries, including Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, at an Istanbul hotel. The rebel leaders proposed targets for cruise missiles and bombing. One participant said: "The opposition was told in clear terms that action to deter further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime could come as early as in the next few days." Planning appears to focus on air strikes. There is little public support in Western countries for troops to invade Syria. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said: "We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfil and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take ... We are ready to go." The Syrian government, backed by regional power Iran, denies gassing its own people and said it would defend itself. "NO REGIME CHANGE" Russia, Assad's main arms supplier, opposes military action and has suggested that rebel forces may have released the poison gas. China's state news agency recalled how flawed intelligence was used to justify the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Firm opposition from permanent members of the U.N. Security Council all but rules out a U.N. mandate for war of the kind that gave legal backing to NATO air strikes that helped Libyan rebels unseat Muammar Gaddafi two years ago. But Western officials say they do want to act within international law. Moscow and Beijing accuse Western powers of using human rights complaints, such as in Libya, to meddle in sovereign states' affairs. White House spokesman Jay Carney insisted: "The options that we are considering are not about regime change. "They are about responding to a clear violation of an international standard that prohibits the use of chemical weapons." Although Obama has long said Assad should step down, he is unwilling to commit to making that happen by force.