Syria conflict: France to float tough UN resolution

QuestCinq.com/News

–France will put a resolution to the UN Security Council to place Syria’s chemical weapons under international control so they can be destroyed, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says.

He said the resolution would threaten “extremely serious” consequences if Syria breached its conditions.

The move follows Russia’s announcement of a plan to put the chemical weapons under international control.

Syria has said it accepts the Russian proposal, though details are sketchy.

“We held a very fruitful round of talks with [Russian] Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday [Monday], and he proposed an initiative relating to chemical weapons. And in the evening, we agreed to the Russian initiative,” Russian news agency Interfax quoted Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, who is in Moscow, as saying.

This would “remove the grounds for American aggression”, he said.

Earlier, Mr Fabius, who was speaking at a news conference in Paris, said the resolution, based around five points, would demand that Syria “bring fully to light” its chemical weapons programme.

The measure would also set up international inspections and controls of the dismantling process.

The resolution would be tabled under Chapter 7 of the UN charter covering possible military and non-military action to restore peace, Mr Fabius added.

The plan had been discussed before, he said, but had probably been advanced by the pressure applied in recent weeks.

The Russians have blocked all previous French-led efforts at the Security Council, says the BBC’s Christian Fraser in Paris…

Source: BBC