French president accuses Assad of using chemical weapons against own people

French President Francois Hollande has reportedly said that Syrian president Bashar al Assad is using lethal chemical weapons against Syrian citizens.

Hollande told Europe 1 radio station that while he has a few elements of information, he did not have the proof to validate his claims, adding that what he had seen from this regime is the horrific methods it is capable of using and the rejection of any political transition.

He said they were much less significant than those in Damascus a few months ago but very deadly, and had taken place in the northwest of the country, near the Lebanese border.

According to Sky News, activists accused the regime of using lethal chlorine gas - first used at Ypres during the First World War - saying it caused "more than 100 cases of suffocation".

Earlier, the UN resolution had asked Syria to meet the end of June deadline to destroy all its chemical weapons and equipment.

The Pentagon had deemed it "unacceptable" to comply with the Syrian government's recent request for a 100-day extension to meet a U.N.-backed deadline for destroying the nation's chemical weapons stocks.