[交流] Many countries call for int'l response to alleged Syrian chemical weapons

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The White House announced Monday that 14 more countries have joined the United States' call for a strong international response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by Syria last month.

This brought to 24 the total number of countries that support the U.S. government in condemning the alleged Syrian government's use of chemical weapons on Aug. 21 in the suburbs of Damascus, which the U.S. claims killed more than 1,400 people, and calling for "a strong international response."

On the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit at St. Petersburg, Russia, U.S. President Barack Obama and leaders of 10 other countries issued last Friday a joint statement on Syria to call for a strong international response to Syria's use of chemical weapons. The countries included Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Turkey.

The new additions to the list of countries that stand behind the U.S. in its dealing with the Syria crisis included Albania, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Honduras, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Qatar, Romania and the United Arab Emirates.

"We welcome additional countries expressing their support for this statement and our continued efforts to hold the Assad regime accountable and enforce the international norm against the use of chemical weapons," said the White House.

In the joint statement, the signatories said evidence clearly points to the Syrian government being responsible for the Aug. 21 attack as part of a pattern of its chemical weapons use, while vowing to hold Damascus accountable for the "grave violation of the world rules and conscience."

"We support efforts undertaken by the United States and other countries to reinforce the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons," it said, citing that the United Nations remains " paralyzed" as it has been for two and a half years during the civil war in Syria.

Short of explicitly supporting the planned U.S. military action on Syria, the statement said Syria's conflict has no military solution and they reaffirm their "commitment to seek a peaceful political settlement" through full implementation of the 2012 Geneva Communique on seeking a peaceful solution to the Syria crisis.