Russia rejects inquiry into toxic gas attacks in Syria

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Russia rebuffed Tuesday a report by an international inquiry that accused the Syrian government of a fatal toxic gas attack, casting doubt on whether the UN Security Council can reach consensus on extending the investigation’s mandate before it expires next week.

Russia vetoed an initial US bid to renew the joint inquiry by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Oct. 24, saying it wanted to wait for the release of the investigation’s report two days later.

It has since proposed its own rival draft resolution, which deputy Russian UN Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said on Tuesday aimed to enhance the effectiveness of the inquiry and correct “errors and systemic problems.”

“Without a comprehensive change it will become a tool to settle accounts with the Syrian authorities,” Safronkov told the 15-member Security Council on Tuesday during a meeting on the report by the UN/OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM).

Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Vladimir Safronkov speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting at UN headquarters in New York City, US, February 28, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The report found the Syrian government was responsible for an April 4 attack using the banned nerve agent sarin in the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, killing dozens of people. The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons.

The chemical weapons attack prompted a US missile strike just days later against a Syrian air base.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said there could be no higher priority for the Security Council than renewing the JIM mandate. Diplomats said the United States had amended its draft resolution in a bid to win Russian support.

“Anyone who prevents us from achieving this goal is aiding and abetting those who have been using chemical weapons,” Haley said. “They are helping to ensure, not just that more women and children will die, but that those women and children will die in one of the cruelest, most painful ways possible.”

A resolution must get nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, Britain and France to pass.

The JIM had previously found that Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015 and that Islamic State militants used mustard gas.

Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States.

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Source(s): Reuters