EU Seeks Probe of 'Unacceptable' Syria Chemical Weapons Use

The European Union condemned the suspected use of chemical weapons by Syrian government forces Wednesday as "totally unacceptable," demanding an immediate investigation.

EU foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton said charges by Syria's main opposition group that a chemical attack by the regime had left over 1,300 people dead, "should be immediately and thoroughly investigated."

A U.N. mission in Syria to probe previous allegations of chemical weapons use "must be allowed full and unhindered access to all sites," Ashton said, according to a spokesperson.

"The EU reiterates that any use of chemical weapons, by any side in Syria, would be totally unacceptable," she said.

The authorities and all other parties in Syria "need to provide all necessary support to and cooperation with the mission's operations," Ashton said as she gathered EU foreign ministers for a meeting on the crisis in Egypt.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague expressed concern at the reports, saying it "is a very important matter to pursue (and)... we are pursuing this with urgency."

His German counterpart Guido Westerwelle demanded that the U.N. chemical weapons team in Syria should "immediately have the opportunity to verify the allegations comprehensively."

The charges were "very serious and alarming," Westerwelle said.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, speaking in Brussels, said if proven the use of chemical weapons would "not only be a massacre, but also an unprecedented atrocity".

Fabius said however that the accusations from the Syrian opposition were "not yet verified."

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt called on Syria to grant "urgent" access to U.N. investigators to determine whether the regime has used the weapons.

The main Syrian opposition group said President Bashar Assad had attacked rebel areas near Damascus on Wednesday using chemical weapons.

The charges could not immediately be verified and were vehemently denied by the authorities.

There have been frequent claims by the rebels of the use of chemical weapons by the army, particularly in Damascus province and Homs in central Syria.