Germany Warns Syria against Using Chemical Weapons

Germany warned Syria Tuesday against any use of chemical weapons, ahead of a NATO meeting on Turkey's request for deployment of Patriot missiles to counter a potential threat from its neighbor.

"I can only warn the Syrian regime: a use of chemical weapons would be totally unacceptable," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said ahead of the gathering of his NATO counterparts in Brussels.

"Whoever even considers this should know that the world would bring them to justice. We demand an immediate end to the violence in Syria and for power to be handed over to institutions preparing the transition."

NATO foreign ministers were expected to approve Turkey's request for Patriots, after U.S. President Barack Obama issued a sharp warning to Damascus against the use of chemical weapons.

A U.S. official has told Agence France Presse that Syria had begun mixing chemicals that could be used to make sarin, a deadly nerve agent, while CNN reported Damascus could use the gas in a limited artillery attack on advancing rebels.

The Patriots, designed mainly to bring down missiles but effective also against aircraft, would likely be supplied by Germany, The Netherlands or the United States.