WORLD_ Syria crisis: Kerry urges UN action on chemical weapons

19 September 2013 Last updated at 20:29 GMT
BBC

Syria crisis: Kerry urges UN action on chemical weapons

John Kerry says that the UN inspectors report "confirms that the Assad regime carried out a chemical attack"


US Secretary of State John Kerry says the UN Security Council must "be prepared" to agree a binding resolution on Syria's chemical weapons.


He said a "definitive" UN report had proven that the Syrian government was behind a deadly attack in August.

Syria has agreed to a chemical weapons disarmament plan unveiled by the US and Russia last weekend.

The West wants the deal enshrined in a UN resolution backed by the threat of military force.

However Russia - Syria's ally - objects.

In another development on Thursday, Syria's deputy prime minister told the UK's Guardian newspaper that the civil war had reached a stalemate and the government would call for a ceasefire if long-delayed peace talks in Geneva take place.

"Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side," Qadri Jamil said.

'World is watching'

Hundreds of people died when chemical weapons were fired into the Damascus suburb of Ghouta on 21 August.

Damascus - backed by Moscow - has insisted that rebel forces carried out the attack.

The US threatened military strikes against Syria in response, but put them on hold after agreeing to a Russian plan to destroy Syria's chemical weapons' stockpiles.

"Now the test comes. The Security Council must be prepared to act next week," Mr Kerry said.

"It is vital for the international community to stand up and speak out in the strongest possible terms about the importance of enforceable action to rid the world of Syria's chemical weapons.

"We have to recognise the world is watching to see whether we can avert military action and achieve through peaceful means even more than what those military strikes promised."

He said the removal of Syria's chemical weapons was possible through peaceful means but the UN had to follow through on the agreement struck in Geneva.

"We need everyone's help to see the Security Council lives up to its founding values and passes a binding resolution that codifies the strongest possible mechanism to achieve the goal and to achieve it rapidly."

Correspondents say the disarmament plan faces its first big test on Saturday with the one-week deadline for Syria to provide a list of its chemical weapons facilities.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was "confident" that Syria's chemical weapons could be destroyed under the US-Russian plan, but was not "100% sure".

He pointed out that Syria had already made steps to join the international Chemical Weapons Convention.

"These are practical steps which the Syrian government has already made," he said.

"Whether we will manage to see everything through, I cannot say 100%. But everything that we have seen up to now, in recent days, inspires confidence that this is possible and that it will be done."

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in an interview with Fox News, said it could take about a year to destroy Syria's chemical stockpiles and could cost about $1bn (£623m).

More than 100,000 people have been killed since Syria's civil war began in early 2011, according to the UN.

Millions have fled the country and millions more have been left homeless.




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