Washington: US President Barack Obama has called his French counterpart Francois Hollande and UK Prime Minister David Cameroon to discuss Syria situation after his administration released the intelligence assessment of the alleged use of chemical weapons by President Bashar Al-Assad`s regime.
Obama and Hollande agreed that the "international community cannot tolerate the use of chemicals weapons" and "must hold the regime accountable" and send a strong message that the use of chemical weapons is not acceptable, the White House said yesterday.
"The US and France are close allies and friends, and we will continue to consult closely with France on Syria and other global security challenges," the White House said.
Obama also spoke with Cameron as part of their continuing consultations on the Assad regime`s use of chemical weapons on August 21, which they agree is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.
"As always, the United States values the special relationship with the United Kingdom, a close ally and friend.
The President and Prime Minister agreed to continue to consult closely on Syria and the broad range of security challenges that our two countries face together," the White House said.
Earlier yesterday, Obama told reporters he is consulting with the Congress and the international community on developing a common approach towards Syria.
"My preference obviously would have been that the international community already acted forcefully. But what we have seen, so far at least, is a incapacity at this point for the Security Council to move forward in the face of a clear violation of international norms," he said.
"I`m very clear that the world generally is war-weary. Certainly, the United States has gone through over a decade of war. The American people, understandably, want us to be focused on the business of rebuilding our economy here and putting people back to work. And I assure you, nobody ends up being more war-weary than me," Obama said.
"What I also believe is that part of our obligation as a leader in the world is making sure that when you have a regime that is willing to use weapons that are prohibited by international norms on their own people, including children, that they are held to account," he added.
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