US House of Representatives speaker backs Obama on Syria

US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday that he will support President Barack Obama on the military attack against Syria.

"I'm going to support the president's call for action," said Boehner after the meeting with Obama at the White House. He also asked Republican lawmakers to do the same, Xinhua reported.

Obama announced last week that he would seek the authorisation from Congress before taking military action to punish Assad's regime for the alleged Aug 21 chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus. This accusation has been denied by the Syrian government.

Boehner said the use of chemical weapons "have to be responded to". He believed US has the capability and capacity to stop Assad's regime and "to warn others around the world that this type of behaviour is not going to be tolerated".

Nancy Pelosi, the house minority leader who is also for military action, said she doesn't believe Congress would reject a resolution authorising military action.

Obama also invited chairs and ranking members of senate and the Armed Services Committee, Foreign Relations Committee and Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives to the meeting, in a push to win over sceptical Congress members, especially those in the House.