Canada backs US, Britain in calling for Syria action

[YahooNews]

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird on Monday called for a "firm response" to a deadly gas attack in Syria, following discussions with the NATO country's allies.

"Canada is incredibly outraged by the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Such an attack demands a firm response from the international community," Baird told a press conference.

The minister said he has been in "very close contact" with his US and British counterparts in recent days and vowed to "continue to work with them in lock step."

UN inspectors earlier visited the scene of the suspected chemical weapons attack near the Syrian capital.

The opposition says more than 1,300 people died when toxic gases were unleashed on Eastern Ghouta and Moadamiyet al-Sham. Doctors Without Borders said 355 people died of "neurotoxic" symptoms in the affected areas.

The UN inspection came as the West appeared to be moving closer to launching a military response over the alleged attack near Damascus that shocked the world after grisly pictures emerged of dead children apparently gassed to death.

Washington and its allies have pointed the finger of blame at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime for the alleged poison gas attack, the latest atrocity in a conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people since March 2011.

"Canada believes that the only way to halt the bloodshed in Syria is through a political solution," Baird commented. "However, we understand that this solution is becoming more and more difficult as the crisis enters a very dangerous new phase... a new dark chapter in this conflict."

"Canada will continue to work closely with our international partners to review a full range of options going forward," he said.

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