LONDON -- British Foreign Secretary William Hague has told Parliament that chemicals shipped by British companies to Syria in the 1980s were "likely" used for the production of chemical weapons, including sarin.

He said in a written statement Wednesday that British companies shipped hundreds of tons of chemicals to Syria before export controls were imposed in the mid-1980s.

Hague said the chemicals had legitimate uses but could also be used to produce sarin and the nerve agent VX.

Syria endorsed the Chemical Weapons Convention last year and agreed to destroy its chemical arsenal. Hague said Britain is helping remove and destroy the weapons.