Monday, September 16, 2013

Syria crisis: UN to confirm sarin gas used in Damascus

BBC News online -- 16 September 2013

Ake Sellstrom hands over the report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, 15 Sept

Ake Sellstrom handed over the report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with the front page visible

There is "convincing evidence" that sarin gas was used in a rocket attack in the Syrian capital, Damascus, last month, a UN report is to confirm.

Text seen in a photograph of the front page of the report - to be released later - does not apportion blame.
US allegations that the government was responsible led to threats of military action and then a US-Russia deal for Syria to make safe its chemical arms.

World powers will now try to hammer out a UN Security Council resolution.
Earlier, UN investigators said they were probing 14 alleged chemical attacks in Syria since September 2011.

The text of the front page can be seen in a photograph of chief UN chemical weapons investigator Ake Sellstrom handing over the report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
It says: "The environmental, chemical and medical samples we have collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used... in the Ghouta area of Damascus'' on 21 August.

"The conclusion is that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic... against civilians including children on a relatively large scale," the report says.

Syria's chemical weapons

CIA believes Syria's chemical weapons can be "delivered by aircraft, ballistic missile, and artillery rockets"

Syria believed to possess mustard gas and sarin, and also tried to develop more toxic nerve agents such as VX gas

Syria has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) or ratified the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)

Sources: CSIS, RUSI

"This result leaves us with the deepest concern."

Mr Ban was scheduled to brief the Security Council on the report at 11:00 local time in New York (15:00 GMT) and is then expected to address the media.

Assigning blame for the attack in Ghouta was not part of the inspectors' remit.
However, diplomats have suggested the way the facts are reported may point to the Syrian government as the perpetrators.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied allegations his government was behind the attack, instead blaming the rebels.

Earlier, Paulo Pinheiro, the chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said the commission had been investigating 14 alleged chemical attacks since it began monitoring Syrian human rights abuses in September 2011.
Mr Pinheiro said investigators had not so far been able to assign blame and were awaiting details from Monday's UN report.

Laurent Fabius (C): "This resolution foresees what is going to happen if the Syrians do not respect their commitments"

He said the commission believed both President Assad's government and the rebels were responsible for war crimes, but that the regime alone had perpetrated crimes against humanity.

War crimes, including mass executions, rape and torture, were continuing, the commission said.
Its investigators said a referral to the International Criminal Court was imperative.

French President Francois Hollande and his Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius earlier met British Foreign Secretary William Hague and US Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris on Monday to discuss the Syrian crisis.

Analysis

Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent
UN Security Council resolutions passed under Chapter VII of the UN Charter allow for action to be taken to deal with "threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of aggression". Such measures can be the imposition of economic, sanctions; the breaking off of diplomatic relations; or where necessary could involve the use of force.
Britain, France and the US would clearly like any resolution related to Syria's chemical weapons to be framed under Chapter VII, which would signal clearly that there will be consequences if the Syrian regime reneges on the deal. Russia has so far been uneasy about using Chapter VII, fearing this could open the way to an automatic recourse to military action should the deal run into trouble.
There seems to be at the very least a measure of ambiguity in the joint-US and Russian document that forms the basis of the plan. Is it Chapter VII now or later? Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov did say subsequently that if the agreement was not complied with in full, the Security Council would take action under Chapter VII. But he also seemed to imply that this would require a return to the UN for an additional resolution.

The meeting follows the deal brokered at the weekend by Russia and the US under which Syria will disclose its chemical weapons within a week and eliminate them by mid-2014.

The US, UK and France said they were seeking a "strong" UN resolution with "serious consequences" if Syria failed to hand over its chemical arsenal, along with a "precise timetable" for dismantling it.

The UN Security Council is expected to draft a resolution in the coming days.
Mr Kerry said the resolution had to be "forceful, accountable, transparent and timely".
He said that all the countries involved, including Russia, had agreed that military intervention could be an option "should diplomacy fail".

"The framework fully commits the United States and Russia to impose measures under Chapter VII of the UN charter in the event of non-compliance."
Chapter VII permits military action if other measures do not succeed.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said any calls for swift UN action against Mr Assad showed a "lack of understanding" of the chemical weapons deal reached with Syria.

Mr Lavrov said: "Yes, our American colleagues would very much like there to be a Chapter VII resolution. But the final declaration, the final document that we approved and which has the guiding principles for how we proceed and for our mutual obligations, makes no mention of it."

Labels: Chemical Weapons, Conflict, Syria, United Nations