EU urges 'strong response' to Syria attack

Ministers point finger for alleged chemical weapons use at Assad's regime, but stop short of endorsing military action Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, has said that "a clear and strong response" must be delivered on the use of chemical weapon weapons in Syria, but has urged those advocating military strikes to wait for a UN inspectors' report. Speaking in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on Saturday, Ashton said that the EU's 28 governments agreed that available information showed strong evidence that the Syrian government was responsible for an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians on August 21 that killed hundreds. "[The Syrian government] is the only one that possesses chemical weapons agents and the means of their delivery in a sufficient quantity," Ashton told reporters as she read out a joint statement prepared by the ministers. The ministers agreed, she said, that the world "cannot remain idle" and said a clear and strong response was needed to prevent any future use of chemical weapons in Syria. The ministers stopped short, however, of explicitly supporting military action against Syria, as proposed by the United States, France and others. US Secretary of State John Kerry, in Vilnius trying to make the US administration's case for a strike, thanked the EU for a "strong statement about the need for accountability". Kerry said he would share his counterparts' concern with US officials. President Barack Obama has asked the US Congress to approve the use of force. A final vote in the US Senate is expected at the end of the coming week. A US House of Representatives vote is likely the week of September 16. Ashton said EU ministers welcomed French President Francois Hollande's commitment to wait for a report by United Nations inspectors on the August 21 attack before taking any action. "The EU underscores [...] the need to move forward with addressing the Syrian crisis through the UN process," she said. The US says that 1,429 people were killed in the August 21 attack, while aid agencies have confirmed at least 355 deaths, with thousands more wounded.