(MENAFN- The Peninsula) US President Barack Obama won the backing of two top Republicans in Congress in his call for limited US strikes on Syria to punish President Bashar Al Assad for his suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians.
Speaking after the United Nations said 2 million Syrians had fled a conflict that posed the greatest threat to world peace since the Vietnam war, Obama said the US also has a broader plan to help rebels defeat Assad's forces.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said a military strike on Syria over the use of chemical weapons could worsen the country's conflict and insisted that the bitterly divided major powers on the UN Security Council have a "collective responsibility to humankind" to unite and halt the use of chemical weapons. Without opposing any military strike that the US and some of its allies are considering, Ban urged caution.
In a boost for Obama, John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor both pledged their support for military action after the meeting.
Votes are expected to be held in the US Senate and House next week, with the Republican-led House presenting the tougher challenge for Obama.
The president said strikes aimed at punishing the use of chemical weapons would hurt Assad's forces while other US action would bolster his opponents - though the White House has insisted it is not seeking "regime change" that might end Syria's civil war.
Meanwhile, Israel tested a US-backed missile system in the Mediterranean yesterday, a launch that was not announced in advance and whose disclosure by Russia kept the world on edge as Washington weighed an attack on Syria.
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