DHAKA: US state secretary John Kerry has said the number of states ready to take military action against Syria’s government is in the ‘double digits’.

Speaking in Paris, he said the world could not be ‘silent spectators to slaughter’ after Syria`s alleged use of chemical weapons against its civilians, reports the BBC.

The US accuses president Bashar al-Assad’s forces of killing 1,429 people in a gas attack on 21 August.

EU foreign ministers say there should be no action before a UN report.

French president Francois Hollande, a key ally for the US on military action against Assad, has said he expects the preliminary UN report into the incident to be submitted at the end of next week.

A G20 summit in Russia failed to produce international agreement on military action, with US president Barack Obama at odds with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, who blames the gas attack on rebels.

Obama has said any military action will be ‘limited both in time and scope, designed to deter the Syrian government from gassing its own people again and degrade its ability to do so’.

BDST: 1446 HRS, SEPT 08, 2013
RoR/RIS