PARIS, Feb 2 (KUNA) -- France voiced an "utmost concern" Friday over the potential of Syria to have maintained production capacities of chemical weapons.
These weapons include sarin and chlorine gas that were previously used in the Syrian civil war, French foreign ministry said in a briefing.
France had "taken note" of American statements on the Damascus regime's production capacity for the two deadly gas agents, it added.
The ministry also affirmed that "successive reports" by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) indicated that it could not confirm whether Syria has complied with an agreement on the destruction of its stockpiles of such weapons or has made a complete declaration of its WMD stocks in line with the Chemical Weapons Convention it signed in 2013.
"UN Security Council resolution 2118 stipulates that Syria shall fully cooperate with the OPCW," Paris stressed.
"This is of the utmost concern to us. France does not accept that the Chemical Weapons Convention can be challenged," it added.
The foreign ministry also said that it was carefully examining all information on Syria's WMD issue and was working with other partners and monitoring any reports of new chemical weapons use.
A number of international bodies, including the Fact Finding Mission of the OPCW, are assessing the chemical weapons question in light of developments.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned several months ago that use of chemical weapons in Syria would lead to a "riposte" from France and he intimated the French military could take unilateral action against violators of agreements on WMD.
France also spearheaded on January 23 a 24-nation international partnership to galvanize momentum to punish chemical weapons use and to signal their refusal to accept impunity for those responsible. (end) jk.ma