West acting 'like a monkey with a grenade' in Syria as strikes loom

As the US and UK prepare to carry out military strikes against Syria over chemical weapons fears, Russia has accused the west of behaving in the Islamic world like a ‘monkey with a grenade".

The rebuke from Russian"s deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin came as Moscow, Syria"s only remaining major ally, began to evacuate its citizens from the war-to country amid reports weste air-strikes could begin within two days.

US defence secretary Chuck Hagel has said the country"s forces are ready to act in the event of an order from Barack Obama, although White House sources indicated the president had not made a decision to take military action.

‘We are prepared. We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfil and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take," Mr Hagel told BBC News.

Syria has claimed there is no evidence it was responsible for the alleged chemical weapons attack, with United Nations inspectors hampered in their investigation by sniper fire and postponements.

The Arab League has joined weste nations in blaming the govement for the attack, however.

Elsewhere, Israel said it was ‘prepared for any scenario" despite not being directly involved in Syria"s two-year civil war, France said it ‘will not shirk its responsibilities" and Saudi Arabia called for a ‘decisive and serious" stand against the al-Assad regime.

Syria"s civil war began in March 2011 at the height of the Arab Spring, when the govement responded to peaceful pro-democracy protests with a brutal crackdown.

Opposition supporters subsequently took up arms against the regime, which responded by deploying tanks and fighter jets against its own population, while al-Qaeda linked fighters also joined the conflict to gain a foothold in the region.