US Secretary of State John Kerry said he had asked his French counterpart Laurent Fabius to share evidence of Syria’s apparent use of chemical weapons against rebel forces.
“I asked him... whether he could send us the information that shows us the chain of custody of that evidence, so we know precisely where it came from,” Kerry said on the sidelines of an Organisation of American States meeting.
President Barack Obama’s administration is facing new pressure to act on a perceived violation of its “red line” against the Syrian regime’s use or movement of chemical weapons, following the new information released in Paris.
Fabius said Tuesday, citing tests carried out by a French laboratory, that the deadly nerve agent sarin was used “several times in a localised manner” but did not give details of where, when or by whom it was used.
White House spokesman Jay Carney did not give a definitive response Tuesday to the French claim, but said Washington was working with France, Britain and the Syrian opposition to probe the possible use of chemical weapons.
Kerry said Washington was completing its own analysis and that he was “very comfortable” with the US government’s “own calendar” on how and when to act.
“Make no mistake whatsoever: the president’s red line is real. He has a set of options which are alive and waiting,” Kerry said.