Austria and Spain, for example, stressed that no action should be taken before UN inspectors present their evidence, while Italy has ruled out participation in any military intervention without a Security Council mandate, an informed source here told Itar-Tass.

Earlier the British Parliament had rejected the UK government's resolution on Syria. Britain will not join any military action against Syria after a stunning parliamentary defeat on Thursday of a government motion on the issue, dealing a setback to US-led efforts to attack Syria over the alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians.

This latest refusal represents increasing doubts by Western countries over the prudence of such a response. Whereas in recent days allied action against Syria seemed imminent, many are now urging caution.

Questions have also been raised about the quality of the intelligence linking the Syrian government to the attack.

Accusations have been leveled against Syrian government by a number of Western and Arab countries after the militants operating inside Syria  claimed on August 21 that hundreds had been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds in the Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar.

The Damascus government, however, has vehemently denied the accusations, saying the chemical attack was carried out by the militants themselves as a false-flag operation.

A number of Western countries, including the US, France, and Britain, were quick to adopt the rhetoric of war against Syria despite the fact that Damascus strongly rejected the claim.

NTJ/BA