France favours UN's chemical weapons probe of Syria

Paris, Aug 23: France has expressed its support to the United Nations (UN) for investigating into reported use of chemical weapons in Syria.

The main Syrian opposition group has claimed that the Syrian government used chemical weapons Wednesday and killed as many as 1,300 people. Damascus, though, denied the accusation.

The support to the UN probe into "the probable use of chemical weapons" in Syria was conveyed during a telephonic conversation between French President Francois Hollande and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Thursday, Xinhua reported.

Hollande "praised the commitment of Mr. Ban Ki-moon to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation and reiterated his full support for the UN to carry out this mission as soon as possible", said a presidency' office statement.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said earlier Thursday that "force" would be needed if it was confirmed that the Syrian government forces used chemical weapons in the eastern suburb of Damascus.

IANS