Obama warns Assad against use of chemical weapons

  • 11 years ago
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STORY: U.S. President Barack Obama warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday not to use chemical weapons against opposition forces, saying there would be consequences if he were to do so.

"The world is watching," Obama said.

"The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable and if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons there will be consequences and you will be held accountable," Obama said in remarks to a gathering of nuclear proliferation experts.

Also at the gathering, the President praised former Democrat Senator Sam Nunn and Republican Richard G. Lugar, for the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program, which is marking it's 20th year. Russia withdrew its cooperation in October from the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program.