British Parliament rejects rejection and Obama may attack Syria alone.

By Mark Hosenball and Oliver Holmes
WASHINGTON/BEIRUT, Aug 29 (Reuters) The British Parliament on Thursday rejected a motion supporting military action in Syria, reflecting deep divisions over the use of force to punish President Bashar al-Assad for an alleged chemical weapons attack against civilians last week.

US officials admitted they had no conclusive evidence that Assad ordered the gas attack, and some allies warned that military action without authorization from the UN Security Council could worsen the situation.

Top White House national security officials are expected to speak to the U.S. Congress later on Thursday, but it already seems clear that any intervention will be delayed at least until UN investigators deliver their findings on the attack, after leaving Syria on Saturday.

The motion voted on in the British Parliament was symbolic, but Prime Minister David Cameron said he would respect the will of the parliamentarians, a setback for Obama's efforts to form a military coalition against Assad. Even if the measure had been approved, it would still have been subject to a second parliamentary vote.

According to British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, Britain will not participate in any military action against Syria following the defeat in Parliament.

The United States, a key ally, will be disappointed that Britain "will not get involved," Hammond said, adding: "I don't expect that the lack of British participation will prevent any intervention."

Even before the motion was rejected in London, Josh Earnest, White House spokesman, stated that the US would be prepared to act on its own.

"When the president (Barack Obama) arrives at a determination regarding the appropriate response (...) and a legal justification is requested to substantiate or support such a decision, we will present one of our own," Earnest stated.

Syrian opposition sources said on Thursday that Assad's forces had removed several Scud missiles and dozens of launchers from a barracks north of Damascus, possibly to protect the arsenal from a Western attack. Meanwhile, reports emerged that Russia was sending ships to the region.

But expectations of an imminent conflagration were tempered by the feeling that the diplomatic process will extend into next week, and by the fact that the White House stressed that any eventual action would be "very discreet and limited," in no way comparable to the Iraq war.

US national security officials have admitted that Washington and its allies do not have conclusive evidence that Assad personally ordered the chemical attack.

Secret intelligence assessments and a still-unpublished report summarizing the information held by the U.S. show that American intelligence agencies are quite certain that Syrian government forces carried out the attack, and that the Syrian government is therefore responsible, according to national security officials.

Syria denies carrying out the gas attack, which it attributes to rebels. Washington and its allies say this denial is not credible.