France is consulting its partners over how to respond to increasing evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Monday.
"There is increasingly strong evidence of localised use of chemical weapons," Fabius told reporters at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers. "That must all be verified, we are doing that with other partners."
"We are consulting with our partners to see what concrete consequences that we are going to draw from this," he said.
He was speaking after French newspaper Le Monde said it had first-hand accounts that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had repeatedly used chemical weapons against rebel fighters in Damascus.
This as the European Union nations remain divided on Monday whether to ease sanctions against Syria to allow for weapons shipments to rebels fighting the regime of Syria's President Bashar Assad.
In this regard, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said “it is important to show we are prepared to amend our arms embargo so that the Assad regime gets a clear signal that it has to negotiate seriously."
Austria was among the holdouts to keep the EU from providing weapons, arguing it would only acerbate an already horrific situation.
"We are not involved in conflicts by delivering arms to one side and we should stay as a peace community by not being involved in such a conflict," Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said.
Hague, however, said that standing still was no option and that the moderate opposition needed to be boosted.
"Most of the world denies them the means to defend themselves, so that is creating extremism radicalizing people. We are reaching the limits of how long we can go on with that situation."
Assad has been using extensive firepower against lightly armed rebel factions. More than 70,000 people have died since the uprising against Assad's regime erupted in March 2011.
Meanwhile, both sides have agreed in principle to enter direct talks in Geneva next month.
On another note, Syria's Information Ministry said that rebels have killed a TV correspondent who was covering clashes near the border with Lebanon. The ministry said Yara Abbas, a prominent female war reporter for state-owned Al-Ikhbariyah TV, was attacked by rebels near the military air base of Dabaa in the central province of Homs.
The ministry's statement Monday was carried by Syrian TV. It gave no further details.
Dabaa air base is near the town of Qusair, which has been under attack by government forces and members of Lebanon's Hezbollah since last week. Dozens of rebels, troops and gunmen have been killed in the heavy fighting.
Several journalists covering both sides of Syria's conflict have been killed since the crisis began in March 2011.
Earlier, the United Nations’ Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon expressed his deep concern regarding Hezbollah’s participation in the Syrian crisis, in particular the clashes taking place in the town of Qussair, and called on Lebanese political parties to adhere to the Baabda declaration.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson Martin Nesirky, UN’s Ban called on all forces to act in a responsible manner, reiterating his rejection to the transfer of arms and fighters from "outside Syria to either side inside Syria".
Assad's government and the rebels fighting to oust him have accused each other of using chemical weapons. U.N. investigators have been ready for weeks, but diplomatic wrangling and safety concerns have delayed their entry into Syria.
REUTERS/AP/LBCI