...

UN Security Council set to vote on chemical weapon use in Syria

Arab World Materials 6 March 2015 08:38 (UTC +04:00)
The UNSC is voting on Mar.6 on a draft resolution on the use of chemical weapons in Syria
UN Security Council set to vote on chemical weapon use in Syria

The UN Security Council is voting on Mar.6 on a draft resolution on the use of chemical weapons in Syria, RIA Novosti reported the statement of the Council's president for March Francois Delattre of France.

"A draft resolution has been put in blue and it will be put to a vote tomorrow morning," France's Ambassador to the UN Security Council Francois Delattre said on Thursday, adding that the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane had earlier briefed the Security Council on progress in the ongoing work to dismantle the Syrian chemical program.

According to Delattre, the issue of the alleged use of chlorine in Syria has also been discussed.

On February 4, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Executive Council formally decided to include reports of the fact-finding mission on chlorine use in the OPCW reports to the Security Council.

Syria joined OPCW after a sarin gas attack near Damascus killed over 1,000 people in August 2013. The Syrian government and rebel forces traded blame for the attack.

The OPCW Fact-Finding Mission findings suggest that chlorine was used as a weapon in three villages in northern Syria between April and August of last year.

Syria has agreed to get rid of its toxic arsenal via Russia's mediation. On Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said that the disarmament of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile has been completed and serious issues concerning its destruction no longer exist.

The deadline to destroy Syria's arsenal of more than 1,400 tons of weapons-grade chemicals was repeatedly missed due to the unstable situation in the country.

Syria has been engulfed in a bloody internal conflict since March 2011 with the Syrian Army fighting various insurgent groups, including the Islamic State radicals.

Latest

Latest