Germany urges Syria to cooperate with UN

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle Thursday asked Syria to grant full access to United Nations chemicals weapons experts to investigate the latest alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government forces.

"We are very worried about the reports that poison gas has been used near Damascus," Xinhua quoted Westerwelle as saying.

"These reports are very serious and if they are confirmed would be outrageous," he added.

The main Syrian opposition group claimed that the Syrian government used chemical weapons Wednesday and killed as many as 1,300 people. But Damascus denied the accusations.

The UN Security Council Wednesday underlined the need for "clarity" on the latest allegations, saying "the situation has to be followed carefully".

The Syrian civil war, which began in March 2011 between the government forces and armed opposition seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad, has cliamed more than 93,000 lives and forced over 1.7 million people to flee the country.