Hagel: Intelligence needed to draw conclusion on Syrian chemical arms

          US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the US effort to determine whether Syria has used chemical weapons is a "serious business" that cannot be decided in a rush just because several countries believe evidence supports that conclusion. "Suspicions are one thing, evidence is another" Hagel told reporters as he wrapped up a visit to Egypt that included talks about Syria and other regional issues. Hagel said conclusions must be based on real intelligence, and while it is not questioning other nations' intelligence, the United States relies on its own. He rejected suggestions the United States was undermining its credibility by saying it was continuing to asses the issues, even as France, Britain and Israel have concluded evidence suggests chemical arms have been used in Syria's conflict. Meanwhile, Salim Idris, chief of the Syrian Free Army, has said it is reasonable that Israel would know whether the army of Syrian President Bashar Assad used chemical arms or not, because, in his words, many Mossad agents are active in Syria. In other comment, Syria's information minister, Omran A-Zuabi, ‏said that Syria would not use chemical weapons against its own citizens or against Israel. Speaking during a visit to Moscow, the minister said: "Even if Syria does have chemical weapons, our leadership and our military will not use them either against Syrians or against Israelis, above all for moral reasons and secondarily on legal and political grounds."