French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday said France is ready to punish the perpetrators of the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria and that all options were being discussed in response to "this despicable act."

"Damascus' chemical massacre can not remain unanswered and France is ready to punish those who took the heinous decision to gas innocent civilians in Syria," Hollande stressed during an annual meeting with French ambassadors.

Hollande said he was considering all options with his European allies and Arab partners to respond to the alleged deadly chemical attack against Syrian civilians.

"Today our responsibility is ... to find the most appropriate response to these atrocities once the UN inspectors' investigation mission is completed," he added.

His remark came just a week after the Syrian opposition claimed that some 1,300 people were killed in a chemical weapons attack carried out by the Syrian army on militant strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus.

Discussions have been intensified among Western countries on a possible military response to the Syrian government, as the United States and Britain have already been mulling a possible military intervention in Syria.

The Syrian government strongly denied the accusation.

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem challenged the Western powers Tuesday to provide their evidence on the involvement of the Syrian troops in chemical arms use.

In an interview with a Russian newspaper on Monday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Western accusations that Syrian government forces used chemical weapons are "an insult to common sense."?

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