US calls UN's investigation into alleged Syrian chemical weapon use 'too late'

The United States said Sunday that Syria's delay in giving permission to a U.N. investigation team may have resulted in destruction of crucial evidence related to Wednesday's chemical weapons attack.

A senior state administration official said even if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad allows UN inspectors now, it will be too late to be credible, because the Syrian regime had enough time in hand to corrupt the significant evidence, Politico reports.

He further said that persistent shelling by the Syrian regime on its soil has destroyed the evidence available over the last five days.

However, the U.S. government was assessing the available facts so that President Barack Obama could make an informed decision about how to respond to this indiscriminate use of chemical weapons against international laws, he said.