US ready to strike in Syria if Obama gives go-ahead

US Vice-President Joe Biden has said there is no doubt that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons and that it must be held accountable.

The US has said its military is ready to launch strikes should President Barack Obama order an attack, and allies say they too are ready to act.

The Syrian government has strongly denied claims it used chemical weapons.

UN weapons inspectors are set to return to the site of last week's suspected attack near Damascus on Wednesday. Their evidence-gathering visit was delayed by a day after they were fired on.

The US says it will release its own intelligence report into the incident at Ghouta, a suburb of the capital, in the coming days.

More than 300 people reportedly died there.

Biden is the most senior member of the Obama administration to blame the Syrian government for the attack.

In a speech to a veterans' group in Houston, he said there was "no doubt who was responsible for this heinous use of chemical weapons in Syria: the Syrian regime".

He said that "those who use chemical weapons against defenceless men, women, and children... must be held accountable".