U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met Friday on the Syria chemical-weapons crisis with ambassadors from the permanent five members of the Security Council-the United States, China, France, Britain, and Russia. Ban, who cut short a trip to Europe to return to U.N. headquarters, has been urging U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders not to attack Syria until U.N. chemical-weapons experts have completed their work in the country. "He intends to engage with member states on developments in Syria, starting today ... with a meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council," said U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky. British U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall-Grant said the envoys would seek an "update" on the inquiry by the U.N. inspectors and have a "general discussion" about events in Syria. The U.N. chemical-weapons experts are scheduled to depart Syria on Saturday and give Ban a first briefing on their investigation into a suspected chemical attack near Damascus on August 21.
