France says 'response' brewing after Syria attack

PARIS (AP) — The French foreign minister says there will be a "proportionate response" to the alleged chemical weapons attack in a Damascus suburb that he blamed on Syria's government.

"It will be negotiated in coming days," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told Europe 1 radio on Monday. Fabius acknowledged that the lack of a U.N. blessing was problematic. "All the options are open. The only option that I can't imagine would be to do nothing."

Syria's government agreed to allow U.N. experts already in the country to begin an investigation Monday into the suspected chemical attack on rebel-held areas in the capital's eastern suburbs. Anti-government activists and Doctors Without Borders say that more than 300 people were killed in an artillery barrage by regime forces Wednesday that included the use of toxic gas.