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FRANCE CANNOT GO IT ALONE

The United States had originally been expected to lead a strike relatively quickly, backed

up by its NATO allies Britain and France. But British lawmakers voted on Thursdayagainst any involvement and France said on Sunday it would await the U.S. Congress'

decision.

"France cannot go it alone," Interior Minister Manuel Valls told Europe 1 radio. "We

need a coalition."

French President Francois Hollande, whose country ruled Syria for more than twodecades until the 1940s, has come under increasing pressure to put the intervention to

parliament.

A BVA poll on Saturday showed most French people did not approve of military action

and most did not trust Hollande to conduct such an operation.

Jean-Marc Ayrault, his prime minister, was to meet the heads of both houses of

parliament and the conservative opposition on Monday before lawmakers debate Syria on

Wednesday.

French first lady Valerie Trierweiler said on Sunday she was still in shock over picturesof Syrian children killed in the attack and told France's M6, "I do not know how one can

bear it, how one can accept it."

Syria and its main ally, Russia, say rebels carried out the gas attack to draw in foreign

military intervention. Moscow has repeatedly used its U.N. Security Council veto to

block action against Syria, saying it would be illegal and only inflame the civil war.

Critics say further delay by Obama is simply buying Assad more time.

The Istanbul-based Syrian opposition coalition said Assad had moved military equipment

and personnel to civilian areas and put prisoners in military sites as human shields againstany Western air strikes.

It said rockets, Scud missiles and launchers as well as soldiers had been moved to

locations including schools, university dormitories and government buildings inside

cities.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports, and attempts to reach Syrian officialsfor comment were unsuccessful.

Obama's credibility has already been called into question for not punishing Assad over

earlier alleged gas attacks, and he is under pressure to act now that he believes Damascushas crossed what he once described as a "red line".

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Failure to act, some say, could mean Iran would feel free to press on with a nuclear

program the West believes is aimed at developing an atomic bomb and that might

encourage Israel to take matters into its own hands.

"If Obama is hesitating on the matter of Syria, then clearly on the question of attacking

Iran - a move that is expected to be far more complicated - Obama will hesitate muchmore, and thus the chances Israel will have to act alone have increased," Israeli Army

Radio quoted an unnamed government official as saying.

Financial markets have been concerned about possible intervention in Syria and a delay

caused by seeking congressional approval would be "a positive," said Michael

Yoshikami, CEO of Destination Wealth Management in Walnut Creek, California.

"A delay will let investors calm down and assess things. There was a lot of concern thatthere would be unilateral military action, because that could have had a major impact on

oil prices, which in turn would have impacted GDP and consumer spending - not what we

want to see with economic growth still so slow, he said.

Pope Francis called for a negotiated solution to the conflict in Syria and announced hewould lead a worldwide day of prayer for peace in the country on Saturday.

(Additional reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Dubai, Louis Charbonneau and Edith Honan

at the United Nations, Nick Tattersall in Istanbul, Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Philip

Pullella in Rome, Ismael Khader in Antakya, Turkey, Michael Georgy in Cairo, MattSpetalnick and David Brunnstrom in Washington and Ryan Vlastelica in New York;

Writing by David Stamp and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Peter Cooney)