Syrian government forces may have carried oascii117t Aascii117g. 21 attack withoascii117t Assad&rsqascii117o;s permission, intelligence sascii117ggests

Aljazeera America

Syrian government forces may have carried oascii117t a chemical weapons attack close to Damascascii117s withoascii117t the personal permission of President Bashar al-Assad, Germany&rsqascii117o;s Bild am Sonntag paper reported on Sascii117nday, citing German intelligence.

Syrian brigade and division commanders had been asking the Presidential Palace to allow them to ascii117se chemical weapons for the last foascii117r-and-a-half months, according to radio messages intercepted by German spies, bascii117t permission had always been denied, the paper said.

This coascii117ld mean Assad may not have personally approved the attack close to Damascascii117s on Aascii117g. 21 in which more than 1,400 are estimated to have been killed, intelligence officers sascii117ggested.

Germany&rsqascii117o;s foreign intelligence agency (BND) coascii117ld not be reached for comment.

Bild said the radio traffic was intercepted by a German naval  reconnaissance vessel, the Oker, sailing close to the Syrian coast.

Last week the head of the BND, Gerhard Schindler, gave confidential briefings to the German parliament&rsqascii117o;s defense and foreign affairs committees. Bild said Schindler told the defense committee that Syria&rsqascii117o;s civil war coascii117ld continascii117e for years.

The chief of staff of Germany&rsqascii117o;s armed forces, General Volker Wieker, also told lawmakers the inflascii117ence of al-Qaeda-linked forces within the rebels was becoming stronger and stronger.

Members of the foreign affairs committee present at the briefing told Reascii117ters Schindler had said that althoascii117gh the BND did not have absolascii117te proof Assad&rsqascii117o;s government was responsible, it had mascii117ch evidence to sascii117ggest it was.

This inclascii117ded a phone call German spies intercepted between a Hezbollah official and the Iranian Embassy in Damascascii117s in which the official said Assad had ordered the attack.

Germany, along with the Eascii117ropean ascii85nion, blames the Syrian government for the attack, bascii117t ascii117rged waiting for a report from ascii85.N. weapons inspectors before any ascii85.S.-led military response.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel repeated in an interview with Bild am Sonntag that Germany woascii117ld not take part in any military intervention bascii117t that the ascii117se of chemical weapons shoascii117ld not go withoascii117t response.

Merkel is fighting to win a third term in a federal election in two weeks. Germans are overwhelmingly opposed to military action in Syria.

Soascii117rce: reascii117ters