Use of chemical weapons in Syria would be reprehensible: Ban

BELGRADE: UN chief Ban Ki-Moon said Monday that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be "reprehensible" after Damascus raised the possibility of using such arms if there was an attack from outside.

"It would be reprehensible if anybody in Syria is contemplating (the) use of such weapons of mass destruction like chemical weapons," Ban told reporters in Belgrade on the fourth leg of his Balkans tour.

Earlier Monday, Syria acknowledged it had chemical weapons and said it would use them in the event of an "external aggression", though not against its own civilians.

"What is (a) concern is that they are not parties to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)," said Ban.

However, Ban stressed that "all the countries have an obligation not to use any weapons of mass destruction, whether they are parties or not to any convention or agreement".

The OPCW is responsible for implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention aimed at eliminating such weapons.