World reaction to Syria crisis

(Update)

While speaking in Toronto Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada isn’t making any plans for military action in Syria. This, as the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are meeting to discuss the crisis.

Sean Leathong has been following and has the details.

The question remains did the Syrian government use chemical weapons on their people? And if so, is outside military force justified?

Russia called a meeting of U.N. Security Council members United States, Britain, France, and China. Russia has previously supported the Syrian government.

Canada is not in that meeting but Thursday, Prime Minister Harper says he is convinced that the possible use of chemical weapons poses a risk that is too great for our soldiers but he supports our allies.

“This is a very big risk and we do believe, and we do support our allies who are contemplating a forceful action to deal with this. That said, at the present time the Government of Canada has no plans. We have no plans of our own to have a Canadian military mission.”

United Nations inspectors continue to collect samples in Syria and will release their report in the coming days. But it appears preparations for military intervention are being made.

In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama’s aides are presenting their proof that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons to congressional leaders. But at the White House, a representative for the President said that any military option would be limited.

And earlier in the day in London, British Prime Minister David Cameron called an emergency meeting of Parliament where the questions was not if chemical weapons were used.

Cameron said “The question before the house is how to respond to one of the most abhorrent use of chemical weapons in a century. It is not about taking sides in the Syrian conflict, it is not about invading. It is about the large scale use of chemical weapons and our response to a war crime, nothing else.”

The British Prime Minister tried to push through a motion that would allow for the use of force but that was narrowly defeated by Parliament Thursday evening.