French authorities will analyze samples brought back from Syria by two journalists after they reported the Syrian army was using chemical weapons against rebel forces, a top official said Tuesday.

There have been mounting reports of the use of chemical arms in Syria, where a bloody conflict has raged for over two years and claimed more than 94,000 lives amid reports of widespread rights violations.

The first gay marriage in France was to take place Wednesday in the southern city of Montpellier, amid fears of protest after months of opposition that saw tens of thousands take to the streets

Officially a secular republic, France is overwhelmingly Catholic, and the issue of gay adoption and marriage -- a key campaign pledge of Socialist President Francois Hollande -- has caused deep divisions.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Monday said there were "mounting suspicions" that chemical weapons were being used in Syria.

Speaking to journalists after talks with his EU counterparts, Fabius said that "very detailed verification" was necessary however.

France is to host a three-way push to hold an international peace conference aimed at ending Syria's conflict, but it has reservations over a role for Iran, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Sunday.

"On Monday night, I will receive my American and Russian counterparts and we will discuss" preparations for next month's planned conference, he told reporters in Abu Dhabi during a brief visit.

France condemned on Sunday the blasts that targeted Beirut's suburb of Mar Mikhael, warning against the spread of the Syrian unrest to Lebanon.

He said that France “strongly condemns” the violence that has taken place in Lebanon.

A French soldier has been stabbed while on patrol in Paris but President Francois Hollande said the attack could not "at this stage" be linked to the murder of a military man in London.

The attacker fled the scene after stabbing 23-year-old Cedric Cordier on Saturday afternoon in La Defense business district, which at weekends is packed with shoppers.

French President Francois Hollande on Saturday invited African leaders to a "peace and security" summit later in the year.

"I invite all African leaders to Paris for a meeting that will be devoted to peace and security and therefore in some way also, the fight against terrorism," he told reporters on the sidelines of African Union celebrations to mark 50 years of a continental bloc.

The jihadist group led by Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar that claimed twin suicide car bombings in Niger that killed at least 20 people threatened on Friday to launch further attacks in the country.

"We will launch further operations" in Niger, the group said in a statement posted on Islamist Internet forums that also threatened France and countries involved militarily in battling Islamist extremists in Mali.

French Ambassador to Lebanon Patrice Paoli reiterated calls for foes in Lebanon to find a way to return to dialogue and to agree on preventing the developments in the neighboring country Syria from having a negative impact on the situation in the country.

“The battles in Qusayr don't fall in Lebanon's best interest and we are looking forward for the foes to carry out the parliamentary elections on time and to form a new cabinet,” Paoli said in comments published in the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat.

France's lower house on Thursday approved a plan to introduce more courses in English at universities despite critics alleging it will undermine efforts to promote French.

A majority of lawmakers in the National Assembly approved the second article of a bill on higher education in a show-of-hands vote.