US: Syrian regime chemical arms threatens to sabotage political solution

          The United States say the Syrian regime's use of chemical arms against rebels, and the growing involvement of Hezbollah in the conflict show that President Bashar Assad threatens to put a political solution out of reach. US Secretary of State John Kerry made the remarks in a phone conversation with his Iraqi counterpart. Meanwhile, Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov says the US evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria apparently does not meet stringent criteria for reliability. In Syria, fighting continued. Regime forces directed air and artillery fire at rebel strongholds in Damascus and surrounding areas. The Syrian army also bombarded several villages in the Homs region in the center of the country, Aleppo in the north and Dera in the south.