Politics
08:24, 16-Nov-2017
UN to vote on rival Russia, US bids to renew Syria probe
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The United Nations Security Council is due to vote on Thursday on the rival US and Russian bids to renew an international inquiry into chemical weapons attacks in Syria, diplomats said, a move that could trigger Russia’s 10th veto to block action on Syria.
The mandate for the joint inquiry by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which found the Syrian government used the banned nerve agent sarin in an April 4 attack, expires at midnight Thursday.
The United States was first to ask for a vote on its draft resolution, followed quickly by Russia. A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted.
A man breathes through an oxygen mask, after what rescue workers described as a suspected gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib, Syria, April 4, 2017. /Reuters Photo
A man breathes through an oxygen mask, after what rescue workers described as a suspected gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib, Syria, April 4, 2017. /Reuters Photo
Diplomats say there is little support among the 15-member council for the Russian draft, which Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has said aims to correct “systemic errors” of the inquiry, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM).
Russia has vetoed nine resolutions on Syria since the conflict started in 2011, including blocking an initial US bid on Oct 24 to renew the JIM, saying it wanted to wait for the release two days later of the inquiry’s report that blamed a sarin gas attack on the Syrian government.
A spokesman for the US mission to the UN said on Monday that Russia has refused to engage in negotiations on the US draft resolution. Diplomats said the US had amended its draft in a bid to win Russian support.
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Director General Ahmet Uzumcu has rejected criticism of his leadership. /Reuters Photo
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Director General Ahmet Uzumcu has rejected criticism of his leadership. /Reuters Photo
The Russian mission to the UN was not immediately available for comment on the impending council vote.
If the inquiry is not renewed, “It may send a bad signal, but the way the investigation has been conducted sends an even worse signal,” Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Monday.
Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the US.
Source(s): Reuters