Fabius Says 'Response' Brewing after Syria Attack

The French foreign minister said Monday 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," he said.

He said the existence of a "chemical massacre" had been established and that President Bashar Assad was responsible.

"A reaction is needed, that's where we are now... There is a duty to react," he added.

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.