France will ‘do its duty’ over alleged Syria chemical attack: minister

Paris (AFP) – France will “do its duty” over an alleged chlorine gas attack against civilians in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta region, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday.

“The use of chemical weapons is a war crime,” Le Drian said in a statement, adding that France had asked the UN Security Council to convene as soon as possible to examine the situation in Eastern Ghouta.

France has repeatedly warned that evidence of further use of chemical weapons in Syria is a “red line” that would prompt French strikes in a brutal seven-year conflict.