Syria. Photograph courtesy of Syria Freedom
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has said that France will propose a resolution to the UN Security Council to place Syria’s chemical weapons under international control.
The proposal comes after US Secretary of State John Kerry made an off-the-cuff remark proposing the idea at a press conference yesterday as the only way Assad could avoid military action. Russia then took this idea and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov proposed it to Syrian counterpart, Walid Muallem, who reportedly welcomed the proposal.
Russia had previously vetoed all previous Security Council resolutions on Syria, with the two countries holding strong links – the Syrian port of Tartus hosting Russia’s only naval base with access to the Mediterranean, and Syria buys a large amount of military equipment and weapons from Russia.
Fabius said this resolution would require and total inspection of all Syria’s chemical weapons and threaten “extremely serious” consequences if Syria failed to comply. It would also set up regular international inspections and controls for the dismantling/disarmament programme.
Russia has said that they also have a plan to put Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons under international control, but they are yet to reveal any details of their plan, or how it compares to the French five-point proposal.
France and the US are ken to avoid any delaying tactics from the Syrians or Russians, with both continuing to threaten military action outside of the UN if Russia does not support this proposal, or Assad tries to use it as a delaying tactic to inflict further injuries from such weapons on the Syrian people.
