US mulls no-fly zone after ‘Syria crossed red line’

The United States is considering imposing a no-fly zone in Syria, its first direct military intervention in the two-year-old civil war, Western diplomats revealed yesterday after the White House said Syria had crossed a "red line" by using nerve gas.

After months of equivocating, President Barack Obama's administration said on Thursday that it would now arm rebels, having obtained proof that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against fighters trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, a charge Damascus dismissed as "lies".

Two senior Western diplomats said Washington was mulling a no-fly zone close to Syria's southern border with Jordan.

"Washington is considering a no-fly zone to help Assad's opponents," one diplomat said. It would be limited "time-wise and area-wise, possibly near the Jordanian border".

But France said yesterday a no-fly zone was unlikely for now because of opposition from some United Nations Security Council members. "The problem with this type of measure is that it can only be put in place with approval from the international community," foreign ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said.

Imposing a no-fly zone would require the US to destroy Syria's air defences, entering the conflict with the sort of action that Nato used to help topple Muammar Gaddafi in Libya two years ago.

Such a move would also face a potential veto by Russia in the Security Council. The Kremlin dismissed US evidence of Assad's use of nerve gas.