PARIS, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Any use of chemical or bacterial
weapons by government forces in Syria would trigger a “massive
and lightning fast” response from the West, French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius said on Monday.
“We talk about this, in particular with our American and
British partners, and follow it closely on a day-to-day basis.
“Our response … would be massive and lightning fast,”
Fabius told BFM television, saying chemical weapons were a “big,
big risk” in the Syrian crisis.
Paris and Washington have said that despite the deadlock at
the United Nations Security Council over taking firm action to
stem the crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad’s army on a
17-month-old uprising, the use of chemical weapons would be
justification for a military intervention.
Syria acknowledged in July that it had chemical and
biological weapons, prompting U.S. President Barack Obama to
threaten “enormous consequences” if Damascus even moved such
weapons in a menacing way.
Asked whether Western powers agreed on what form a response
to the use of chemical weapons could take, Fabius said he
believed they would be united.
“Russia has been very firm on this point and the Chinese
have the same position,” he added.
Assad, who is backed by Shi’ite Iran and its Hezbollah
Lebanese proxy, has lost control of rural areas in northern,
eastern and southern regions of Syria and is using helicopter
gunships and fighter jets to try to subdue the opposition.
