The United States says the international community will hold Syrian officials accountable if they fail to meet their duty to safeguard the country's stockpiles of chemical weapons.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says the U.S. has repeatedly warned Syria it is obligated to protect those weapons.

Nuland made her comments after a prominent U.S. newspaper reported that Syria has started moving part of its chemical weapons arsenal out of storage facilities.

The Wall Street Journal quoted U.S. officials as saying Syria may use the weapons against rebels or civilians.

Syria is believed to have reserves of sarin nerve agent, mustard gas and cyanide.

The Journal noted that U.S. officials and their allies in the region have been watching amid the conflict in Syria for changes in the status or location of Syria's alleged chemical weapons.