REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PARIS - France's foreign minister on Thursday raised the possibility of the international community using force if it is proven that Bashir Assad's regime used chemical weapons in an attack the Syrian opposition says killed over 100 people.

Laurent Fabius spoke a day after the UN Security Council called for "a thorough, impartial and prompt investigation" of the latest allegations against the regime, in a statement that diplomats say was watered down by objections from Syria allies Russia and China.

Speaking on RMC radio, Fabius did not make clear how the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime might be proven. But if there is proof of a chemical weapons attack by the regime, "we need a reaction by the international community .... a reaction of force," he said.

France has been at the forefront of efforts to rid Syria of Assad. It was the first to back the opposition Syrian National Coalition and appoint a coalition ambassador in Paris. With Britain, it pressed for the lifting of European arms sanctions, though once they were lifted pulled back and said it is supplying non-lethal military equipment plus humanitarian aid.

Opposition forces and activists have said that at least 136 people, including many children, were killed in the Wednesday attack in which most bodies bore no sign of wounds. The United States, Britain, France and others have demanded that a team of UN experts already in Syria be granted immediate access to investigate the site.

The attack coincided with the visit to Syria by a 20-member UN chemical weapons team which only has a mandate to investigate three previous allegations of chemical weapons use. Without a mandate, which needs Syria's approval, the investigators would not be able to visit the site of the attack.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich reiterated his claims that the accusations against Assad could be a bid to get the Security Council to stand by the opposition, and to undermine efforts to resolve the conflict by convening a peace conference in Geneva.

The Turkish and German foreign ministers, while underlining demands for the regime to allow UN inspectors to investigate, were vague about the consequences if it doesn't — beyond renewing calls for sanctions.

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