Last updated: July 14, 2014



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World Breaking News

Obama tells Putin of Syria weapons concern

UN leader Ban Ki-moon

The UN chief has urged Syria to stop blocking an inquiry into the alleged use of chemical weapons. Source: AAP

US President Barack Obama has voiced concern to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about reports that Syria has used chemical weapons.

Obama also thanked Putin in the telephone call for his help after the Boston marathon bombings, and expressed condolences over a fire that killed 36 patients in a Russian psychiatric facility on Friday, the White House said.

Monday's call came with Obama facing increasing political heat himself, after the White House said last week that it believed there was growing evidence that Syrian forces had used chemical weapons in the civil war.

"President Obama and President Putin reviewed the situation in Syria, with President Obama underscoring concern over Syrian chemical weapons," a White House statement said.

Obama is under pressure because last year he said that the use or movement of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad's embattled forces would cross a US "red line."

Key political players in Washington are now warning that his credibility is on the line, though the White House is seeking more detailed intelligence into exactly how and when such weapons may have been used.

Obama and Putin agreed to stay in touch on Syria and tasked Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with working together on the issue.

Washington has been deeply frustrated that Russia has blocked tougher action in the UN Security Council, including new sanctions, against its long-time ally Syria.

The US is also now calling on Assad to allow a United Nations team into the country to assess reports that chemical weapons have been used.

Earlier UN leader Ban Ki-moon made a new plea to Syria to stop blocking an international inquiry into the alleged use of chemical weapons in the country's conflict.

Ban met the head of the investigation team, Ake Sellstrom, as international suspicions about the use of the weapons grow and on the day designated to remember the victims of chemical weapons attacks.

Ban told reporters he "takes seriously" US reports about the weapons and said "I again urge the Syrian authorities to allow the investigation to proceed without delay and without any conditions".

Sellstrom and an advanced team now in Cyprus can deploy to Syria "within 24 to 48 hours", the UN secretary-general said on Monday.

Assad's government asked for a UN inquiry but has refused to let investigators into the country, demanding they be limited to its claims that opposition rebels used chemical weapons near Aleppo on March 19.