DAMASCUS: Syrian authorities denied charges that the army used chemical weapons in attacks on areas near the capital on Wednesday that left dozens of people dead or wounded. "Reports on the use of chemical weapons in (the suburbs of) Ghouta are totally false," state news agency SANA said. It dismissed as "unfounded" the reports from opposition activists carried by Al-Jazeera, Sky and other satellite news channels "which are implicated in the shedding of Syrian blood and support terrorism."