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The U.N.聽Security Council聽said it was necessary to clarify an alleged chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of聽Damascus聽on Wednesday but stopped short of explicitly demanding a probe by U.N. investigators in Syria.

"There is a strong concern among council members about the allegations and a general sense that there must be clarity on what happened and the situation must be followed closely,"聽Argentina's U.N. ambassador,聽Maria Cristina Perceval, told reporters after a closed-door emergency meeting of the council.

While the council did not explicitly call for a U.N. investigation, it welcomed U.N. chief聽Ban Ki-moon's calls for one.

"The members of the聽Security Council聽also welcomed the determination of the Secretary-General to ensure a thorough, impartial and prompt investigation," said Perceval, who is president of the council this month.

Syria's opposition accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces of gassing many hundreds of people - by one report as many as 1,300 - in a pre-dawn attack on Wednesday.聽Assad's government聽denied using chemical weapons.

Western and regional countries have called for U.N. chemical weapons investigators, who arrived in聽Damascus聽three days ago to look into previous allegations of such attacks, to be dispatched to the scene of the latest reported attack, which occurred in suburbs east of聽Damascus.

The聽United States, Britain and聽France聽are among around 35 countries that called for chief U.N. investigator聽Ake Sellstrom聽and his team in Syria聽to investigate the incident as soon as possible.

U.N. diplomats, however, said聽Russia聽and聽China聽opposed language containing an explicit call for a U.N. probe. An earlier Western-drafted statement, seen by Reuters, would have asked the聽United Nations聽to "urgently take the steps necessary for today's attack to be investigated by the U.N. mission."

That proposed statement was diluted to accommodate Russian and Chinese objections, council diplomats told Reuters.

British Deputy U.N. Ambassador聽Philip Parham聽said, however, that the council statement did amount to a de facto call for an investigation of the alleged gas attack.

"She (Perceval) made very clear that the council supported a prompt, thorough and independent investigation," Parham said.

Visiting site聽

Deputy U.N. Secretary-General聽Jan Eliasson聽said the world body hopes Sellstrom, who is in talks with the聽Syrian government聽about possibly investigating the alleged gas attack, will be able to visit the site of the reported incident.

"We very much hope that we will be able to conduct the investigation," he told reporters after briefing the council behind closed doors. "Dr Sellstrom and his team are in place in聽Damascus. We hope that they will be given access to the area by the government."

He said the consent of聽Assad's government聽would be necessary. He added it was also essential that both the government and rebels agreed to halt fighting to enable the investigators to visit the site without fear of harm.

Russia's Foreign Ministry聽called for a fair and professional investigation into reports that troops loyal to Assad were responsible for the suspected attack.

But聽Moscow聽suggested that rebels could have staged the alleged assault to provoke international action.

It was not immediately clear how the聽Syrian government聽would respond to requests to allow Sellstrom's team to investigate the alleged incident. The聽United Nations聽and聽Assad's government聽were in talks for months before an agreement led to the arrival of Sellstrom's team in聽Damascus聽this week.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Sandra Maler and Philip Barbara)