HONG KONG, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares could start the week stronger on Monday, taking their cue from gains in regional stock markets after Lawrence Summers dropped out from the race to head the U.S. Federal Reserve.

  A likely uptick in mainland China markets could further underpin sentiment, particularly after the country's securities regulator told a regular news briefing after markets shut last Friday that it would support banks issuing preferred shares and that any " qualified" Chinese company is eligible.

  The Hang Seng Index closed down 0.2 percent at 22,915.3 points on Friday, rising 1.3 percent on the week. The China Enterprises Index of the top Chinese listings in Hong Kong sank 0.9 percent, but climbed 2 percent last week.

  Shares rallied in Asia on Monday after Summers' surprise decision, as investors wagered that Fed policy would stay easier for longer under the other main candidate, Janet Yellen.

  Around 0051 GMT, South Korea's KOSPI was up 1 percent and Australia's S& P/ASX index added 0.7 percent. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.

  FACTORS TO WATCH:

  * China will invest 80 billion yuan ($13.07 billion) in oil and gas exploration in 2013, state media said on Sunday, as it tries to boost energy supplies to reduce its dependence on energy imports.

  * Addax Petroleum, owned by top Chinese refiner Sinopec , has lost a ruling at an international tribunal as part of a $1 billion legal battle over an oilfield in Gabon, a confidential document showed.

  * Tencent Holdings Ltd, one of China's biggest Internet companies with a market cap of almost $100 billion, has applied for a private banking license, Chinese media reported on Friday.

  * Sunshine Oilsands Ltd said the Alberta government had given final approval for its Thickwood Project, doubling the company's Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) commercial production capacity from the current 10,000 barrel per day.

  * China National Materials Co Ltd said its subsidiary Gansu Qilianshan Cement Group Co Ltd would buy a 100 percent stake in cement maker Longnan Runji Cement Co Ltd for 265.6 million yuan, a move that will help Qilianshan increase its market share and competitiveness in southern Gansu Province.

  * Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd said the value of newly signed contracts from January to August amounted to 142.73 billion yuan, down 11 percent from the same period a year ago.

  * China Coal Energy Co Ltd said its commercial coal production volume for August rose 7.5 percent to 9.8 million tonnes while coal sales volume rose 18 percent to 13.28 million toonnes.(Reporting by Clement Tan and Donny Kwok Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

* Summers drops out of race for Fed chairman
* U.S. dollar falls to near 4-week low, Asian shares rally
* Fed policy meeting this week eyed for stimulus outlook

(Adds analyst comments, updates prices)
By A. Ananthalakshmi
SINGAPORE, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Gold climbed on Monday on a
weaker U.S. dollar after Lawrence Summers withdrew as a
candidate to head the Federal Reserve, but the metal was still
trading near its five-week low on concerns over the outlook for
Fed stimulus.
Summers, a former top aide to President Barack Obama,
withdrew from consideration to succeed Fed Chairman Ben
Bernanke, after liberal pressure soured his confirmation
prospects.
Markets viewed Summers' move as leaving Fed number two Janet
Yellen the favourite to take the chairmanship.
" The rally (in gold) this morning is because of Summers.
Yellen is perceived to be more dovish than Summers," said
Barnabas Gan, an analyst at OCBC Bank in Singapore.
" It seems that there may be more resistance in faster
tapering of the QE program if Yellen becomes the chairman," Gan
said, referring to the Fed's quantitative easing program.
The U.S. dollar fell to a near four-week low against a
basket of major currencies.
The Fed's stimulus measures, including its $85 billion
monthly bond purchases, have boosted gold's appeal as a hedge
against inflation over the last few years, sending prices to new
highs.
The U.S. central bank is widely expected to begin tapering
the pace of bond buying this month on the back of strong
economic data. Gold has fallen about 20 percent this year on
tapering fears.
Investors are monitoring the bank's two-day policy meeting
from Tuesday for clues on the timing and outlook of the stimulus
measures.
Spot gold rose 0.4 percent to $1,331.36 an ounce by
0300 GMT, after recording its largest weekly loss since late
June.
Poor technical momentum, easing tensions with Syria and
expectations that the U.S. central bank would unwind its
monetary stimulus sent the metal to a five-week low on Friday.

INVESTOR SENTIMENT BEARISH
Monday's gains in safe-haven gold were capped by easing
geopolitical tensions in Syria. The United States agreed to call
off military action against Syria under a deal with Russia to
remove President Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons stockpile.

Hedge funds and money managers slashed bullish bets in
futures and options of the U.S. gold markets for the first time
in 5 weeks, pressured by easing tensions over Syria and
expectations that the Fed will begin to unwind its monetary
stimulus, a weekly report by the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission showed on Friday.
SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.66 percent to
911.12 tonnes on Friday -- its biggest decline since August 1.


Precious metals prices 0300 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1331.36 5.10 +0.38 -20.49
Spot Silver 22.12 -0.08 -0.36 -26.95
Spot Platinum 1456.25 6.75 +0.47 -5.13
Spot Palladium 706.25 9.75 +1.40 2.06
COMEX GOLD DEC3 1331.20 22.60 +1.73 -20.56 22854
COMEX SILVER DEC3 22.18 0.46 +2.12 -26.81 6564
Euro/Dollar 1.3363
Dollar/Yen 98.87

COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi Editing by Richard Pullin)

(Reuters) - Hurricane Ingrid turned back toward the west-northwest with no change in strength, the U.S. National Hurricane Centre said in its latest bulletin.

  Ingrid was located about 95 miles (155 km) east-southeast of La Pesca Mexico, packing maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 km/h), the NHC said.

  " Some slight strengthening is possible before the centre (of Ingrid) reaches the coast and weakening will begin once Ingrid moves over land," the NHC said.

  (Reporting by NR Sethuraman in Bangalore Editing by Supriya Kurane)

* Retail sales rise but below expectations

  * Coal stocks fall ahead of new emission standards

  * Intel climbs after upgrade

  * Dow up 0.5 pct, S& P up 0.3 pct, Nasdaq up 0.2 pct

  By Caroline Valetkevitch

  NEW YORK, Sept 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday and the Dow registered its best weekly gain since January, helped by a rise in Intel shares, though trading was subdued ahead of the Federal Reserve's expected reduction of stimulus measures next week.

  Despite indications economic growth slowed somewhat in the third quarter, traders expect the Fed to trim its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases by $10 billion while leaving interest-rate policy highly accommodative to help the economy - and be supportive of equities.

  The Dow, up 3 percent for the week, has one more week of trading with its current 30 constituents. After that, the average will add Goldman Sachs, Nike and Visa , replacing Alcoa, Bank of America and Hewlett-Packard. Visa rose 7 percent this week.

  All three indices got their biggest lift on Friday from Intel, whose shares gained 3.6 percent to $23.44, after Jefferies boosted its rating on the chipmaker and raised its price target to $30 per share.

  The S& P 500 rose 2 percent for the week, its best gain in about two months, yet its trading range has narrowed sharply this week and that trend is expected to continue until the Fed announcement. The Nasdaq posted a 1.7 percent gain for the week.

  " Next week, the Fed discussion and tapering, and where they land, is big news for the marketplace and, more importantly, how the market interprets what the Fed is either doing or not doing," said Vernon Meyer, chief investment officer of Hartford Funds in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

  The Dow Jones industrial average was up 75.42 points, or 0.49 percent, at 15,376.06. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.57 points, or 0.27 percent, at 1,687.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 6.22 points, or 0.17 percent, at 3,722.18.

  Among other gainers for the day, shares of Safeway jumped 6.1 percent to $28.20 after Credit Suisse upgraded the supermarket operator's stock.

  Coal sector shares fell before next week's unveiling by regulators of a carbon emissions-rate standard for new fossil fuel power plants. Alpha Natural Resources dropped 2.4 percent to $6.21, Peabody Energy lost 3.2 percent to $17.98 and Arch Coal fell 3.3 percent to $4.69.

  The day's economic data showed retail sales rose for a fifth consecutive month in August, though the increase was smaller than the market expected. U.S. consumer confidence slipped early this month and inflation pressures remained subdued even after an energy-led increase in wholesale prices last month.

  Volume was among the lightest of the year for a full day of trading, with less than 5 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT, well under the average daily closing volume of about 6.3 billion this year.

  Advancers beat decliners on the NYSE by about 1.6 to 1 while on the Nasdaq advancers beat decliners by about 1.5 to 1.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday against a U.S. strike on Syria, saying such action risked escalating the conflict beyond that country and unleashing terrorist attacks.

  Writing in the New York Times, Putin said there were " few champions of democracy" in the 2-1/2-year-old civil war in Syria, " but there are more than enough Qaeda fighters and extremists of all types battling the government."

  He repeated assertions by his government and Damascus that an August chemical weapons attack that the United States blames on President Bashar al-Assad's government was likely the work of opposition forces seeking to provoke foreign intervention.

  President Barack Obama wants to hold Assad accountable for the suspected attack in a Damascus neighbourhood on August 21 that U.S. officials say killed about 1,400 people, including 400 children.

  Obama said in a speech on Tuesday that he had asked Congress to put off a vote on his request to authorize military action in Syria to let diplomacy play out around a Russian proposal to put Syrian chemical weapons under international control, although he said the threat was still needed to ensure Syria complies.

  Putin cautioned against taking military action without U.N. Security Council authorization, saying, " We must stop using the language of force."

  " The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria's borders," Putin wrote.

  " A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism," he added. " It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance."

  Putin said it was alarming that intervening militarily in foreign countries' internal conflicts had become " commonplace" for the United States.

  " Is it in America's long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy, but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan 'you're either with us or against us.'"

  Putin also rejected Obama's assertions of " American exceptionalism," saying: " It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional."

  Russia has been Assad's most powerful backer during the civil war, which has killed more than 100,000 people since 2011, delivering arms and - with China - blocking three U.N. resolutions meant to pressure Assad.

  On Tuesday, Syria accepted the Russian proposal to surrender its chemical weapons to international control to try to win a possible reprieve from a U.S. military strike.

  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone on Wednesday, the State Department said, one day before they are due to meet in Geneva to try to agree on a strategy to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.

  Saying his " working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust," the Russian leader said, " I welcome the president's interest in continuing the dialogue with Russia on Syria.

  " We must work together to keep this hope alive, as we agreed to at the Group of 8 meeting in Lough Erne in Northern Ireland in June, and steer the discussion back toward negotiations."

  (Reporting by Peter Cooney Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

JERUSALEM, Sept 12 (Reuters) - A senior Israeli official voiced cautious support on Thursday for Syria giving up its chemical weaponry under a Russian proposal being considered by the United States.

  " I cannot say that we have full faith, but if this Russian proposal ... will really remove the chemical weaponry from Syria, first of all, and will then dismantle it ... then this is a way to end this tragedy and a way to end this threat too," Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel's Army Radio. (Writing by Dan Williams Editing by Peter Cooney)

* S& P 500 ends seventh straight session higher

  * Apple extends recent decline after unveiling new iPhones

  * Obama requests Congress to delay vote on Syria

  * Housing stocks among the strongest of the day

  * Dow up 0.9 pct, S& P up 0.3 pct, Nasdaq off 0.1 pct

  By Ryan Vlastelica

  NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the S& P 500 up for a seventh straight day, as geopolitical fears eased amid diplomatic efforts to allow Syria to surrender its chemical weapons, averting a U.S. military strike.

  The Nasdaq composite index ended slightly lower on a sell-off of Apple shares.

  Market nervousness abated as U.S. President Barack Obama, faced with resistance in polls and Congress, said a Russian offer to pressure Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control raised the chances of putting off a strike.

  In a nationally televised speech on Tuesday night, the president asked congressional leaders to delay a vote on authorizing military force to give the diplomatic efforts a chance.

  " The speech lessens some of the macro concerns out there, and as the worst-case scenario around Syria becomes more unlikely, investors are rotating back towards the market," said Eric Teal, chief investment officer at First Citizens Bancshares in Raleigh, North Carolina.

  The S& P 500 has risen about 3.4 percent over the past seven sessions, its longest winning streak since July.

  Wall Street showed resilience even as Apple Inc, the largest U.S. publicly traded company by market capitalization, slumped a day after it unveiled new iPhone models that disappointed investors who were hoping for a cheaper versions or a new product line.

  The stock fell 5.4 percent to $467.71, extending a 2.3 percent decline in the previous session. The stock suffered its worst two-day performance since April 18, and its loss of nearly $23 billion in market capitalization is roughly the total size of Dell.

  Apple's announcement " was less than expected from a company that has a reputation for surprising with a killer product or strategy," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia, which manages about $58 billion in assets.

  The Dow Jones industrial average was up 135.16 points, or 0.89 percent, at 15,326.22. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 5.11 points, or 0.30 percent, at 1,689.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 4.01 points, or 0.11 percent, at 3,725.01.

  Traders looked ahead to the Fed's two-day policy meeting on Sept. 17-18 when a decision is expected to begin to wind down $85 billion a month in bond purchases. That stimulus has been key in buoying the economy and boosting the benchmark S& P 500 index by nearly 18 percent so far this year.

  Volume was light, with about 5.63 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, below the daily average so far this year of about 6.25 billion shares. About 53 percent of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange closed higher, while about half of Nasdaq-listed shares ended lower.

  Housing stocks were strong performers, up 1.2 percent. D.R. Horton Inc jumped 3.2 percent to $19.50.

  IBM rose 2.2 percent to $190.70 to lead gains on the Dow industrials a day after hardware distributor Synnex Corp said it will buy IBM's customer-care outsourcing business for $505 million. Synnex jumped 20 percent to $57.60.

  Texas Instruments fell 0.7 percent to $40.03 after the No. 3 U.S. chipmaker lowered its third-quarter forecast.

  Economic data showed wholesale inventories for July edged up 0.1 percent, less than an expected rise of 0.3 percent, but better than June's 0.2 percent decline.

  Harvest Natural Resources Inc surged 26.5 percent to $5.25 after the oil and gas producer said it was in exclusive talks to sell itself to Argentina's Pluspetrol in a deal valued at about $373 million including debt.

  U.S. Treasuries prices rose, with the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note up 15/32, and the yield at 2.9103 percent.

TOKYO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures inched towards $108 a barrel in light trade on Thursday, with investors uncertain about the outlook for supply from the Middle East.

  It remained unclear whether diplomatic efforts to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons would avert a U.S. military strike on the country that could lead to disruption to oil supplies from the key producing region.

  FUNDAMENTALS

  * NYMEX crude for October delivery was up 12 cents at $107.68 a barrel by 0010 GMT, after settling 17 cents higher at $107.56 on Wednesday.

  * The contract has lost 4 percent since hitting a 28-month high of $112.24 late last month, with potential U.S. military strikes against Syria looking less imminent.

  * London Brent crude for October delivery was up 8 cents at $111.58 a barrel, after ending up 17 cents.

  * The White House warned on Wednesday that a diplomatic solution over Syria would take " some time" and pledged to pursue talks despite scepticism from U.S. lawmakers that Damascus would make good on a Russian plan to surrender its chemical weapons.

  * The five permanent veto-wielding powers of the U.N. Security Council met in New York on Wednesday to discuss plans to place Syria's chemical weapons under international control as Britain, France and the United States talked about drafting a resolution.

  * U.S. crude oil inventories fell slightly last week, while stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma, hub declined for the 10th straight week, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.

  * Libya's attorney general has issued arrest warrants for the leaders of oil strikers, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on Wednesday, adding he would act soon against the protesters.

  * North Sea oil output will rise by 8.2 percent in October from September, according to loading programmes and industry sources, not enough to put much downward pressure on Brent oil prices given wider supply disruption.

  * The Obama administration on Wednesday authorized natural gas exports from a fourth U.S. facility, unexpectedly accelerating a review process that would-be gas exporters and their allies in Congress had criticized as too slow.

  MARKETS NEWS

  * U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the S& P 500 up for a seventh straight day.

  * The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index rose by a marginal 0.2 percent on Wednesday after markets weighed the U.S. plan to hold back an attack on Syria if Damascus surrenders its chemical weapons.

  * The dollar struggled at two-week lows against a basket of major currencies early in Asia on Thursday, as markets continued to chip away at its recent gains on growing doubts the Federal Reserve will scale back stimulus in any significant way next week.

  DATA/EVENTS

  * The following data is expected on Thursday: (Time in GMT)

  0800 Italy Industrial output

  0900 Euro zone Industrial production

  1200 India Industrial output

  1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims

  1230 U.S. Import prices

  1600 U.S. World agricultural supply and demand estimates (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi Editing by Joseph Radford)

* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.7 pct, 2-1/2 wk closing high

  * Telecom Italia surges on renewed M& A speculation

  * Investors snap up put options as Syria remains a concern

  By Toni Vorobyova

  LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - European stocks posted their highest close in 2-1/2 weeks on Thursday, cheered by strong U.S. data and the European Central Bank's commitment to low interest rates to fuel economic recovery.

  The U.S. services sector grew at its fastest pace in almost eight years, according to Institute for Supply Management data, offering fresh proof of a pick up in the world's biggest economy.

  Data has also been improving in Europe, but policymakers there signalled that the outlook for rates had not changed since July and that, despite improvements, risks to the economy remained to the downside.

  The bank's statement after its September meeting said it was ready to cut interest rates or pump more money into the euro zone economy if necessary to bring down money market rates it says have been higher than warranted.

  Low interest rates make equities look attractive relative to bonds, while reducing the borrowing costs for companies themselves and stimulating domestic demand by encouraging consumers and businesses to spend rather than save.

  The FTSEurofirst 300 closed up 0.7 percent at 1,223.68 points, its highest finish since Aug. 19.

  " It's a bit more reassurance from the policymaking body in Europe and, at the same time, strong data from the States ... so you can see why the markets are up," said Graham Bishop, equity strategist at Exane BNP Paribas.

  Banks - arguably the most direct beneficiaries of ECB stimulus - added the biggest sector boost.

  Telecoms were another top gainer, with Telecom Italia surging 8.4 percent on renewed deal speculation against a backdrop of rising merger activity in Europe.

  Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris, AT& T and America Movil have made contact with the core investors in the Italian firm who want to sell their shares, a source close to the situation said.

  Gains on the broader market, however, were capped by ongoing concerns over Syria, with talks on how to deal with the civil war there set to dominate the G20 meeting of the world's major nations.

  Activity in September put options on EuroSTOXX 50 - which give the right to sell the index and are thus used to position for market weakness - on the Eurex exchange was nearly twice as high as for call options.

  Adding to investor caution were expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will start to scale back its asset purchases stimulus programme this month - for which jobs numbers on Friday may prove an important sign.

  " I am a little cautious in the short term because of things such as Syria, Fed tapering and so on, but I am not really frightened and I think the market can go higher before the end of the year," said Vincent Guenzi, chief strategist at Cholet Dupont.

  Tighter U.S. policy could also prove beneficial to European equities, including through currency impact, some say.

  " If the dollar were to gain on expectations of rising rates, a comparatively weaker euro could boost exports," Andrew Goldberg, global markets strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management said in a note, also highlighting attractive valuations and a recovering economy as reasons to invest.

By Thomas Ferraro and Richard Cowan

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The fate of a congressional resolution to authorize President Barack Obama's planned military strikes on Syria hinged on Thursday on scores of undecided U.S. lawmakers, with party loyalty appearing increasingly irrelevant.

  Even after congressional hearings featuring Obama's secretaries of state and defence, a half dozen closed-door briefings and phone calls from Obama himself, it was too close to call on whether Congress will authorize military force.

  Obama asked Congress to back his plan for limited strikes in response to a chemical weapons attack on civilians that the United States blames on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

  First-term Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who had been seen as a possible swing vote, dealt the president a setback when he announced on Thursday he would oppose the resolution to authorize military strikes.

  " Given the case that has been presented to me, I believe that a military strike against Syria at this time is the wrong course of action," Manchin said.

  Republican Representative Michael Grimm, who initially backed Obama's call last month for military strikes, withdrew his support on Thursday. " Unfortunately, the time to act was then and the moment to show our strength has passed," said Grimm, a Marine combat veteran.

  If Obama fails to win congressional support, he would face two undesirable options. One would be to go ahead with military strikes anyway, which could provoke an angry showdown with Congress over their respective powers.

  The other would be to do nothing, which White House officials privately acknowledge would damage the credibility of any future Obama ultimatum to other countries.

  Twenty-four of the Senate's 100 members oppose or lean toward opposing authorizing military strikes, according to estimates by several news organizations, with an equal number favouring military action and roughly 50 undecided.

  Every vote will count in the Senate, where a super-majority of 60 will likely be needed because of possible procedural hurdles for a final vote on approving military action.

  A count by the Washington Post listed 103 members of the House of Representatives as undecided, of whom 62 are Democrats. There are 433 members currently sitting in the House.

  Party loyalty, which drives most issues in a Congress known for its partisan gridlock, was becoming increasingly irrelevant, particularly among Obama's fellow Democrats. Some Democratic liberals who usually line up behind Obama's policies have expressed reluctance to back an attack on Syria.

  'I'M AN ADULT'

  " I support the president," said Democratic Representative Bill Pascrell, who remained undecided.

  " I want him to succeed. But he isn't asking me to be - nor will I be - a lap dog. So I will make my own decision. I'm an adult," Pascrell said.

  Republicans have opposed Obama on a host of issues in Congress - and those aligned with the conservative Tea Party movement appear likely to do so on this matter. But other Republicans who favour strong American engagement internationally are lining up behind the Syria military strike authorization.

  Most House Republicans are expected to vote " no," even though their top two leaders, Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, have endorsed the military strikes.

  While Obama administration officials continued to express confidence about ultimately winning congressional support, it was clear on Thursday that their blitz of briefings was not having the desired impact, especially with many lawmakers reporting opposition to strikes among their constituents.

  Manchin said he listened to the concerns of thousands of people in his home state of West Virginia, attended hearings and briefings, and spoke with former and current military leaders.

  In a statement, he said that " in good conscience, I cannot support" the resolution authorizing force and that he will work to develop other options. " I believe that we must exhaust all diplomatic options and have a comprehensive plan for international involvement before we act," Manchin added.

  Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski told reporters, " I have more questions than I have answers, and I hope to get them over the course of today and tomorrow."

  She spoke as she entered the latest closed-door session on Thursday with Obama's national security team, only to emerge two hours later saying she still had " more questions."

  " What we heard today made a compelling forensic case that, one, nerve gas was used, and number two, that it was used" by Assad's forces, Mikulski said. " The next step, then, has to be ... what is the way to both deter and degrade his ability to ever do it again? ... Does a military strike do that?"

  FIRST HURDLE CLEARED

  The Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House both must approve the measure. It cleared its first hurdle on Wednesday when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the resolution by a 10-7 vote - with Democrats and Republicans voting on both sides of the issue.

  The full Senate is likely to begin voting next Wednesday, a Senate aide said. It will start with a vote on an anticipated legislative roadblock by Republicans, and then move on to a vote on the resolution to authorize the use of force, the aide added.

  The timing of a vote in the House remained unclear.

  Memories of the protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are still fresh in the minds of members of Congress, leaving many in both parties worried that a military strike could lead to a longer and larger U.S. engagement in Syria.

  If Obama is going to win passage of the measure in the House, he must convince fellow Democrats like Representative Zoe Lofgren and Pascrell.

  The two liberals have been reliable Obama allies on a crush of issues since Obama entered office, but now voice plenty of questions and concerns about his bid to attack Syria.

  Lofgren joined a conference call for House Democrats on Monday given by Obama administration officials. Lofgren complained that the briefing did not provide nearly as much information as she had sought and disliked at least a portion of Secretary of State John Kerry's presentation.

  Kerry invoked memories of Nazi Germany when he told the House Democrats that the United States faces " a Munich moment" in deciding whether to wage military strikes against Syria.

  " I thought it was a very unfortunate comment. We need facts, not overheated emotional rhetoric," Lofgren said.

  (Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Susan Heavey and Rachelle Younglai Editing by Fred Barbash and Will Dunham)