By DEB RIECHMANN
US Secretary of State John Kerry, centre, with aide Jason Meininger as he leaves a meeting with European Union Ministers of Foreign Affairs at the National Gallery of Art in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013. Kerry traveled to Europe to court international support for a possible strike on the Syrian regime for its alleged use of chemical weapons while making calls back home to lobby Congress where the action faces an uphill battle. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — European foreign ministers on Saturday endorsed a “clear and strong response” to a chemical weapons attack that strongly points to the Syrian government, but they urged the U.S. to delay possible military action until U.N. inspectors report their findings.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, trying to make the Obama administration’s case for a strike, thanked the European Union for a “strong statement about the need for accountability.”
Kerry said he would share his counterparts’ concern with U.S. officials. A senior State Department official who attended Kerry’s meeting with the ministers said Kerry made clear that the U.S. has not made any decision to wait.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose details about the private meeting.
Obama has asked the U.S. Congress to approve the use of force. A final vote in the U.S. Senate is expected at the end of the coming week. A U.S. House vote is likely the week of Sept. 16.
A statement read at the end of the ministers’ meeting by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said the Aug. 21 attack was a “blatant violation of international law, a war crime and a crime against humanity.”
Information from a wide variety of sources confirmed the chemical attack, according to the statement, and “seems to indicate strong evidence that the Syrian regime is responsible” as it is the only party “that possesses chemical weapons agents and the means of their delivery in a sufficient quantity.”
The statement said a “clear and strong response is crucial to make clear that such crimes are unacceptable and that there can be no impunity.” But at the same time, the statement said the EU backs the need to address the crisis through the U.N. process.
The EU said it hoped a preliminary report of the investigation can be released as soon as possible and welcomed French President Francois Hollande’s statement Friday to wait for this report before any further action is taken.
The U.S. blames the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad for the attack in the Damascus suburbs and, citing intelligence reports, says sarin gas was used. The U.S. says 1,429 people died, including 426 children.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which collects information from a network of anti-regime activists, says it has so far only been able to confirm 502 dead.
European officials have questioned whether any military action against the Assad government can be effective.
Britain’s Parliament has voted against military action. Hollande displayed sudden caution Friday, saying for the first time that he would wait for the U.N. report before deciding whether to intervene militarily.
The report is expected later this month. Some European officials are asking the U.N. to speed up the investigation or issue an interim report.
France, which firmly backs the Syrian rebels and has strategic and historic interest in the region, had been ready to act last week but held off when President Barack Obama declared last weekend that he would seek the backing of Congress first.
Hollande’s announcement appeared to catch French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius off guard.
Earlier Friday, Fabius told EU foreign ministers in Vilnius that there was no need to wait for the U.N. report because it would simply confirm what was already known — that the chemical weapons attack had occurred — but would not say who was responsible.
On Mideast peace negotiations, Kerry urged his EU counterparts to consider delaying putting in place a funding ban on Israeli institutions operating in occupied territories.
Ashton said the EU would send a team to Israel on Monday to make sure the implementation of the ban is done “very sensitively.”
“We, of course, want to continue to have a strong relationship with Israel,” she said.
The EU’s decision on the ban, announced in July, marked a new international show of displeasure with Israeli settlements built on lands captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
The Palestinians claim some of those territories — the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — for their hoped-for state.
The EU ban applies to grants, prizes and financial instruments and that the new funding guidelines go into effect in 2014. The EU issues dozens of grants, totaling millions of euros, to Israeli universities, companies and researchers every year.
Kerry was heading to Paris later Saturday, where he planned to speak with representatives of Arab nations. Later in the weekend, he was scheduled to hold talks in London with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and British Foreign Secretary William Hague before returning to Washington.
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Associated Press writer Raf Casert contributed to this report.
