France says Assad regime behind last month's 'massive chemical weapons attack'

France has said the chemical weapons attack near Damascus was carried out by the Syrian government.

A report presented to parliament by Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the assault on 21 August involved the 'massive use of chemical agents', killing at least 281 people.

France and the United States are pushing for punitive military action, which the UK parliament rejected last week.

According to the BBC, Ayrault made public France's nine-page report into the incident, drawn up by military and foreign intelligence services.

The report said that Syria's arsenal of chemical weapons is 'massive and diverse', comprising 'several hundred tons' of the nerve agent sarin.

It added that the Syrian army has used chemical weapons, including sarin, against its civilians several times before, but on 21 August it launched an attack which involved 'massive use of chemical agents'.

It said that the use of chemical weapons can only be authorised by Assad or 'certain influential members of his clan'.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has again denied carrying out a chemical attack, telling the French newspaper Le Figaro it would have been 'illogical'.

He also warned that foreign military action could ignite the 'powder keg' of the wider region.

The US put the death toll at 1,429, including 426 children and has blamed the Syrian government, based on its intelligence, the report added.