WORLD_ Syria agrees to hand over its chemical weapons as UN meeting cancelled

Syria agrees to hand over its chemical weapons as UN meeting cancelled

PM
By Mandi Sami, wires
Updated 47 minutes ago


A United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss a Russian proposal for Syria to give up its chemical weapons has been cancelled as diplomatic wrangling between major western powers continues.


The stall comes despite Syria saying it will accept the proposal and join the convention outlawing chemical weapons.

Syrian prime minister Wael al-Halki accepted the Russian proposal "to spare Syrian blood," state television reported. Syria's foreign minister Walid al-Moualem echoed those comments in a statement shown on Russian TV.

"The Syrian leadership, in accepting this initiative, was acting out of its belief in Russia's effort to prevent aggression," Mr Muallem was quoted as saying by ITAR-TASS.

"We are convinced that the position of those striving for peace is much stronger than that of those trying to fuel war."

The UN meeting to discuss the proposal has been cancelled at Russia's request.


Key points:

* Russia cancels UN Security Council meeting to discuss proposal

* Syria prepared to accept proposal and join convention outlawing chemical weapons

* Assad warplanes recommence bombing of rebel positions in Damascus.

* France prepared to amend draft UN resolution on Russian proposal

* Syrian rebels say Russian proposal is "a cheap trick to buy time"

* White House still pushing for Congressional approval for military strikes

* Barack Obama due to address American public later on Wednesday


France had been drawing up the draft resolution for the meeting, which would call on Syria to give up its chemical weapons or face military action. France now says it is ready to amend the resolution if need be.

The United States and its allies remain sceptical about the proposal and president Barack Obama has sought to keep the pressure on Syria by maintaining his drive for congressional backing for a possible military strike while exploring a diplomatic alternative.

The White House says Mr Obama, British prime minister David Cameron and French president Francois Hollande had agreed in a telephone call on their preference for a diplomatic solution, but that they should continue to prepare for "a full range of responses."

Mr Obama is due to meet Senate Democrats and Republicans to present his case for approving a potential military strike later on Tuesday, when he will also address the American public over the matter.

But a congressional vote has now been been delayed and US secretary of state John Kerry says Washington is expecting to receive ideas from Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov about how to secure Syria's chemical weapons.

"He is sending those to us. They'll be coming informally in the course of the day. We'll have an opportunity to review them," Kerry said in a Google+ hangout interview.

The White House says eight more countries, including Kuwait, have now signed a statement condemning Syria for the August 21 chemical weapons attack and calling for a strong international response, bringing the total 33.

Syrian jets bombard rebel positions

Amid the whirlwind of diplomatic activity focused on the response to a suspected chemical weapons attack, the civil war resumed in earnest, with president Bashar al-Assad's jets again bombing rebel positions in the capital.

Rebels said the air strikes were a demonstration that the government now believed the West had lost its nerve.

"By sending the planes back, the regime is sending the message that it no longer feels international pressure," activist Wasim al-Ahmad said from Mouadamiya, one of the districts of the capital hit by the chemical attack.

The war has already killed more than 100,000 people and driven millions from their homes, and threatens to spread violence across the Middle East.

The Russian proposal "is a cheap trick to buy time for the regime to kill more and more people," said Sami, a member of the local opposition coordinating committee in the Damascus suburb of Erbin, also hit by last month's chemical attack.

Human Rights Watch finds Assad behind chemical attack

Meanwhile, the US-based Human Rights Watch says the evidence strongly suggests that Syrian government forces were responsible for a deadly poison gas attack, contradicting denials by Mr Assad.

Human Rights Watch reported on the incident which reportedly killed more than 1,400 people near Damascus in August as Mr Obama pushed for congressional approval for military strikes on Syria.

Peter Bouckart is one of the authors of the report, which is based on witness accounts, information of the likely source of the attacks, remnants of the weapons used and medical records of victims.

He says the Syrian government forces are most likely to blame for the deadly attack.

"We reconstructed the kind of rockets that were used in the attack," he said.

"It's clear that these are rockets - 144 millimetre and 130 millimetre rockets - that were either obtained by the Syrian government from Soviet stocks a few decades ago or were actually constructed in Syria for the explicit purpose of carrying out chemical weapon attacks.

"We know that the agent used in the attack was most likely sarin, which is in the possession of the Syrian government.

"So the sophistication this attack and the fact that these are rockets that we know are in the possession of the Syrian government clearly indicates that the Syrian government most likely carried out this attack, despite the denials from Damascus."

The findings from the human rights body contradict fresh statements from Mr Assad in a US television interview denying involvement in the attacks, which he has blamed on rebels fighting to overthrow him.

"Our soldiers in another area were attacked chemically," he said.

"They went to the hospital as casualties because of chemical weapons. But in the area where they said the government used chemical weapons, we only have video and we only have pictures and allegations.

"You were not there. How can you talk about what happened if you don't have evidence?"

'Significant breakthrough' fails to end strikes threat

Support in Congress for a measure authorising attacks remains relatively low and polls suggest a majority of Americans oppose such a move with campaigners rallying in Washington against any military offensive.

The US Senate has delayed a key vote on authorising the use of force in Syria to let Mr Obama address the issue publicly.

The president has already given a series of television interviews and he is preparing to give a national address tomorrow aimed at building support.

Mr Obama says it is a "significant breakthrough", but he is sceptical the Syrian government will follow through and maintains that all options are on the table.

"I don't think that we would have got to this point unless we had maintained a credible possibility of a military strike, and I don't think now is the time for us to let up on that," he said.

"I want to make sure that that norm against use of chemical weapons is maintained."

But Mr Obama is still pushing for Congressional approval for military strikes against Syria.

"I believe I can make a very strong case to Congress, as well as the American people, about why we can't leave our children a world in which other children are being subjected to nerve gas," he said.

"That it is in our interest, if we can take a limited step that makes a meaningful difference, it's worth it for us to do that."

ABC/wires

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-10/human-rights-watch-concludes-syrian-regime-behind-chemical-atta/4949404



Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc . 
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị . 




conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
11092013 
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC