UN disarmament chief
Angela Kane has arrived in Damascus to push the Syrian government for
access to the alleged site of a chemical weapons attack.
It comes as France joined the UK in accusing Bashar
al-Assad's forces of carrying out the attack in the capital's eastern
suburbs on Wednesday.
US President Obama has said he is weighing his options amid claims that hundreds of civilians were killed.
State media on Saturday said chemical agents were found in rebel-held areas.
Syrian television said soldiers had "suffocated" as they
tried to enter Jobar - one of the towns in the Ghouta district around
Damascus reportedly attacked on Wednesday.
Russia, Syria's main ally, said earlier there was evidence rebels were behind Wednesday's attack.
Damascus has called the allegations "illogical and fabricated".
'Grave concern'
Syria's opposition said hundreds of people died in a night-time government assault in Ghouta on Wednesday.
Unverified footage shows civilians - many of them children -
dead or suffering from what appeared to be horrific symptoms consistent
with a chemical attack.
The allegations have caused international outrage.
France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Saturday that "all
the information at our disposal converge to indicate that there was a
chemical massacre near Damascus and that the [regime of Bashar al-Assad]
is responsible".
A day earlier, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said he
believed "this is a chemical attack by the Assad regime" and it was "not
something that a humane or civilised world can ignore".
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was determined to
"conduct a thorough, impartial and prompt investigation" into the
events.
He has sent Angela Kane to press the Syrian authorities to
allow a team of 20 experts on chemical weapons - already in Damascus -
to investigate the claims.
The US, meanwhile, is facing rising pressure to intervene.
President Obama is meeting his national security team on Saturday to discuss possible next steps in Syria.
US defence officials have said navy commanders are keeping a fourth warship in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
The officials stressed that the US Navy had received no orders to prepare for military action.
Mr Obama told CNN that Wednesday's attack was a "big event of
grave concern", but added that the US was still seeking confirmation
that chemical weapons had been used and warned against a knee-jerk
reaction.
Last year, he said the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a "red line" and force a tough US response.
Russia's foreign ministry said Moscow had urged President
Assad to co-operate with UN inspectors, but questioned the opposition's
willingness to provide "secure, safe access of the [UN] mission to the
location of the incident".
It also said there was evidence that "this criminal act was
clearly provocative", referring to unsubstantiated internet reports that
allegations were being made hours before the attack was supposed to
have happened.
The UN says more than 100,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Assad began more than two years ago.
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