Syria regime launched 'chemical attack'

French intelligence services have scientific proof that the Syrian regime was responsible for a suspected chemical attack that killed 87 people, France's foreign minister said yesterday.

Jean-Marc Ayrault said analysis of samples taken at the scene of the April 4 attack in rebel-held Khan Sheikhun in which 31 children were among the dead showed "there is no doubt that sarin gas was used" and that it was produced by Syrian laboratories.

"There is no doubt about the responsibility of the Syrian regime given the way that the sarin used was produced," Ayrault told journalists after the report was presented at a meeting of French defence chiefs.

He said the substance France believes was used in the attack contains hexamine, a component that was also found in a gas attack in northwest Syria in 2013.

"We are able to confirm that the sarin used on April 4 is the same sarin that was used in an attack in Saraqeb on April 29, 2013," he said.

Ayrault said the chemical fingerprint is "typical of the method developed in Syrian laboratories". "This (production) method bears the regime's hallmarks and allows us to determine its responsibility for this attack," he said.

A French diplomat said the analysis was carried out on unexploded ordnance found at Khan Sheikhun, reported AFP.

Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir discussed Syria's future with his Russian counterpart in Moscow yesterday after which he said Riyadh still believed there was no political future for President Bashar al-Assad.

Al-Jubeir, after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, also told a news conference that Riyadh wanted to end what he called Iran's meddling in the Middle East, reported Reuters.

The Saudi minister gave a positive assessment of Russian-backed Syrian peace talks in Kazakhstan, but said he thought there was no need to widen the list of participants in those talks, which are sponsored by Iran, Turkey and Russia.