14 more countries call for response to Syrian use of chemical weapons

Fourteen additional countries have signed on to a statement calling for a "strong international response" to the use of chemical weapons allegedly by the Assad regime in Syria, the White House announced on Monday. The countries are Albania, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Honduras, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Qatar, Romania and the United Arab Emirates, the White House said. "On September 6, the United States and 10 other countries issued a joint statement on Syria condemning in the strongest terms the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons on August 21 in the suburbs of Damascus and calling for a strong international response," the White House said. "The statement explicitly supports the efforts undertaken by the United States and other countries to reinforce the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons," it added. The 10 countries that originally signed the statement, along with the United States, are Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. "We welcome additional countries expressing their support for this statement and our continued efforts to hold the Assad regime accountable and enforce the international norm against the use of chemical weapons," the White House said.