West to study options if Syria again uses chemical weapons
Shares
Britain says Western powers will study options if Syrian government again uses chemical weapons, but nothing is planned as yet.
Speaking on British television, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said airstrikes were the right thing to do to deter further use of chemical weapons and showed the world has said enough is enough.
Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn says the airstrikes were legally debatable and that Britain must abide by international law . He demanded legislation to give Parliament more scrutiny over military action.
U.S. ambassador to UN Nikki Haley said at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that if Syria uses poisonous gas again, the United States is locked and loaded.
An international fact-finding mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is now in Syria and expected to visit Douma.
Meanwhile, the Syrian army has declared that Eastern Ghouta has been fully cleansed of anti-regime forces after a two-month offensive.
An army spokesman said in a statement that all anti-regime forces have left Douma town, which was last of their holdouts in Eastern Ghouta.
Syrian state TV says another 5,000 security forces have been deployed in a town after an alleged chemical attack. (AP/AFP/Reuters/BBC)
On the other hand, Pope Francis says he is "deeply disturbed" by the international community's failure to come up with a common response to the crises in Syria and other parts of the world.
The pontiff said after his traditional Sunday blessing that "despite the tools available to the international community, it is difficult to agree on a common action toward peace in Syria or other regions of the world."
Francis called on "all people of goodwill" to join him in praying for peace, and appealed to political leaders to help "justice prevail."
The pope spoke after airstrikes by the United States, France and Britain aimed at taking out Syria's chemical weapons capacity, following a suspected poison gas attack on a Damascus suburb that killed dozens, including children. (AP)
