UN Powers Clash Over Text in Draft Resolution

The five permanent UN Security Council members remain divided over a draft resolution as the discussion of the said resolution, which will be put before the 15-nation Security Council, was thwarted by disagreements over the wording of the proposal to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons.

American, British, French, Russian and Chinese diplomats met in New York on Tuesday but after nearly an hour of initial talks, it ended with an agreement to meet again on Wednesday, diplomats said. United Nations (UN) diplomats said ‘it remained unclear when a vote on the resolution could take place.’

Al Jazeera.net reported the US-British-French draft intends to support an American-Russian deal reached in Geneva last Saturday calling for Syria to account for its chemical weapons within a week and for the removal and destruction of the arsenal by mid-2014.

However, France and Russia disagreed over a French text which included a demand for action under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which can authorize both the use of force and non-military measures, if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad does not stick to the US-Russian plan. Britain, France and the US are in favor of a strong resolution against Syria.

Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who agreed a deal on Saturday with his US counterpart John Kerry to dismantle and destroy Syria’s chemical arms stockpile by mid-2014, is opposed to a resolution that is under the chapter of the UN charter that allows the use of force, Al Jazeera.net said.

“The resolution of the Security Council will not contain any reference to Chapter VII,” Lavrov said after he protested the Assad regime’s innocence in the chemical attack. “We have the most serious reasons to suggest that this was a provocation. “Some of our partners have stated dogmatically that only the regime could use chemical weapons … but the truth should be ascertained.” Lavrov said.

John Kerry, however, insisted on Tuesday that the US-Russian agreement for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons must be backed by a United Nations resolution with the teeth to force compliance from President Bashar al-Assad. “That will happen only with the United Nations passing a strong resolution,” Kerry said after a closed-door briefing on the Geneva talks with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington.

“It is important that that threat of force stay on the table in order to guarantee the compliance of the Assad regime. So we will continue to press this issue.” Kerry said.

Al Jazeera added Tuesday’s meeting came a day after UN investigators confirmed the use of sarin nerve agent in an August 21 poison gas attack outside Damascus.

Moreover, Israel, Syria’s neighbor, shifted from its non-committal public stance and said it wanted to see Assad’s regime toppled, Al Jazeera.net said.

Source: Al Jazeera.net