Barack Obama Warns Of Syria Chemical Weapons Threat To US.

.Barack Obama argued that Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons not only violated international norms but threatened America, as he hardened the US position on the alleged used of chemical weapons by the regime of Bashar Al-Assad.

"When you start talking about chemical weapons, in a country that has the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the world, where over time their control of chemical weapons may erode, where they're allied to known terrorist organisations, that in the past have targeted the United States, then there is a prospect, a possibility in which chemical weapons, that can have devastating effects, could be directed at us and we want to make sure that that does not happen," he said.

He also declared unequivocally that the United States has "concluded" that the Syrian government carried out a deadly chemical weapons attack on civilians last week.

Mr Obama did not present any direct evidence to back up his assertions.

He said he is still evaluating possible military options in retaliation for the attack that allegedly killed hundreds near Damascus, but vowed that any American response would send a "strong signal" to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

The Syrian regime has denied using chemical weapons on its own civilians last week.

"We have concluded that the Syrian government in fact carried these out," the US President said during an interview with PBS' NewsHour. "And if that's so, then there need to be international consequences."

Mr Obama said he was not seeking a lengthy, open-ended conflict in Syria, indicating that any US response would be limited in scope.

Laying out a legal justification for a US response, he said Syria was violating the Geneva Protocols, an agreement signed in 1925 in the wake of World War I to ban the use of chemical gases.

The White House has also cited the Chemical Weapons Convention, a 1992 agreement that builds on the Geneva Protocols by prohibiting the development and stockpiling of chemical weapons.

Syria is a party to the original Geneva accord, but not the latter chemical weapons agreement.

Moreover, Syria's UN ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, is demanding that United Nations experts investigate three alleged chemical weapons attacks against Syrian soldiers.

He said the attacks occurred on August 22, 24 and 25 in three suburbs of the Syrian capital and dozens of soldiers are being treated for inhaling nerve gas.