White House calls for U.N. probe of alleged Syria gas attack

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday called on the United Nations to urgently investigate allegations of massive deadly chemical weapons use by Syrian government forces, an attack which if confirmed could increase pressure on President Barack Obama to intervene in Syria's civil war.

Syria's opposition accused President Bashar al-Assad's loyalists of gassing hundreds of people near Damascus on Wednesday with rockets that released lethal fumes over rebel-held suburbs, killing men, women and children as they slept.