France: UK vote doesn’t thwart plans to hit Syria

(AP) — French President Francois Hollande expressed willingness Friday to push ahead with plans to strike Syria for allegedly using chemical weapons despite the British parliament's rejection of military action. Washington also was preparing for the possibility of a strike against the Damascus regime within days.

"The chemical massacre of Damascus cannot and must not remain unpunished," Hollande said in an interview with the newspaper Le Monde, published Friday, as U.N. experts in Damascus began what is expected to be the last day of their probe into the alleged attack.

The French president reiterated that France wants a "proportional and firm action." When asked about the type of intervention, however, he said "all options are on the table."

Hollande suggested that action could even come ahead of Wednesday's extraordinary session of the French Parliament, called to discuss the Syria situation; lawmakers' approval is not needed for Hollande to order military action.

"I will not take a decision before having all the elements that would justify it," he told Le Monde. However, noting that he had convened parliament, he added: "And if I have (already) committed France, the government will inform (lawmakers) of the means and objectives."

The British parliament voted late Thursday against military action in Syria, whittling down the core of the planned coalition to the United States and France. Italy and Germany have said they won't take part in any military action.

The British 'no' vote raised questions about France's participation — and ratcheted up pressure on U.S. President Barack Obama, who is also facing domestic skepticism about military intervention in Syria.

Amid the resistance, the U.S. administration shared intelligence with lawmakers Thursday aimed at convincing them the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its people and must be punished.

Obama appeared undeterred by the difficulties forming an international coalition, and advisers said he would be willing to retaliate against Syria on his own.

"The president of the United States is elected with the duty to protect the national security interests in the United States of America," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

France has more intimate ties to Syria, having once ruled the country; it also has warplanes and strategic interest in the region. Paris has embraced the Syrian opposition and urged a firm response against Assad over the purported Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus. But Hollande appears to be facing increasing political and public resistance against moving against Syria quickly.

Hollande said that France is among the few nations capable of "inflicting a sanction by the appropriate means" and "it is ready." But a decision will be made in close coordination with allies, he added.

French military analysts say France's most likely role would be from the air, including use of Scalp cruise missiles that have a range of about 500 kilometers (300 miles), fired from Mirage and Rafale fighter jets. French fighters could likely fly directly from mainland France — much as they did at the start of a military campaign against Islamic radicals in Mali earlier this year — with support from refueling aircraft. France also has six Rafale jets at Al Dhafra air base, near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on the Persian Gulf, and 7 Mirage-2000 jets at an air base in Djibouti, on the Red Sea.

Hollande reiterated that any action is aimed at punishing the regime of Bashar Assad, not toppling him.

"I won't talk of war but of a sanction for a monstrous violation of the human person. It will have a dissuasive value," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that military strikes would lead to long-term destabilization of Syria and the region. He has spoken against any use of force without U.N. Security Council approval, which he said would be a "crude violation of international law." Russia has remained a strong ally of Syria throughout the civil war, which has left more than 100,000 people dead.

In Damascus, three U.N. vehicles headed out for more on-site visits on Friday, after an early morning delay.

The U.N. said Thursday that the inspectors would wrap up their investigation Friday and leave Syria the following day. Some of the experts will travel to laboratories in Europe to deliver the material they've collected this week during trips to the Damascus suburbs purportedly hit by toxic gas.

The mandate of the U.N. team is to determine whether chemical agents were used in the attack — not who was responsible. But the U.N. has suggested that evidence collected by investigators — including biological samples and interviews — might give an indication of who was behind the attack.

Hollande said that a chemical attack is "an established fact ... and the question is to know who are the authors of this frightening act." But he reiterated what France has said for several days, that Paris has a "range of indices which point to the responsibility of the regime."