Major Powers Make 'Progress' on Draft Resolution on Syria
The major powers inched toward a U.N. Security Council resolution to back the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons on Wednesday as U.N. experts resumed the hunt for evidence of poison gas attacks.
Russia and the United States are negotiating a Security Council resolution to legally enforce the disarmament plan that they agreed to head off a U.S. military strike.
Some western envoys said important progress has been made on the resolution. One said there was agreement on "the main points" of a text which could be put to the 15-member Security Council.
The envoy said it could allow for a resolution that allows for a later vote on sanctions under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter if President Bashar Assad fails to honor the Russia-U.S. plan.
Russian officials denied however that there was any agreement on potential sanctions.
A senior State Department official cautioned to Agence France Presse: "We're making progress but we're not done yet."
U.S. President Barack Obama told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday there had to be a "strong" resolution and French leader Francois Hollande said it must include the threat of eventual "coercive" measures.
But Russia, Assad's major backer, has fiercely opposed any move to allow eventual sanctions or military force under the U.N. Charter.
U.S. officials said progress was made in talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday.
A U.N. team led by Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom traveled in an overland convoy from Beirut to Damascus on Wednesday.
After determining that sarin gas was used in an August 21 attack near Damascus, the team must now try to get to up to 14 sites where allegations of chemical weapons use have been made.
During a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Security Council permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and United States – U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon raised the Russia-U.S. disarmament plan as well as efforts to convene a peace conference, said a U.N. spokesman.
The U.N. leader called the meeting to urge the major powers to overcome deep divisions over the conflict.
Source: Agence France Presse
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