Diplomats: Russia lifts UN hold on Syria chemical attacks probe
by Daily Sabah with AFP
ISTANBULSep 12, 2015 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah with AFP
Sep 12, 2015 12:00 am
Russia has lifted its objections to a U.N. investigation into chemical attacks in Syria, clearing the way for the probe to begin, diplomats said Thursday. The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted a resolution Aug. 7 approving a joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reacted by proposing that the mission be entrusted to three independent experts, and asked the UNSC for the go ahead to recruit them. But Russia, which heads the council in September, delayed its response. According to diplomats, Moscow wanted guarantees on several points, notably that the sovereignty of its Syrian ally would be respected and on the mission's financing.
On Wednesday, Ban addressed a letter to Russian ambassador to the U.N. Vitaly Churkin giving assurances that the United Nations would "expeditiously consult" with Damascus on an agreement governing how the mission will function and that there be "reasonable grounds" for its demands for access. The Syrian government is supposed to cooperate fully with the investigators. In a statement Thursday, Ban said he would "without delay, undertake all steps, measures and arrangements necessary for the speedy establishment and full functioning of the (joint investigative mechanism)." He did not say when the investigation would begin, but called "on all parties in the Syrian Arab Republic to cooperate fully."
The Russians also wanted the investigators to weigh in on the use of chemical weapons in Iraq by Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militants. But that would require a new resolution and the agreement from the Iraqi government. ISIS is suspected of having used sarin gas last month in Iraq and in northern Syria.
The Syrian government also denied using chemical weapons but the United States, Britain and France accuse the Syrian army of carrying out chemical attacks, including several with chlorine gas. Russia, which has always protected its Syrian ally from its permanent, veto-wielding seat on the UNSC, contends there is no proof against Syria.
Investigators will be charged with determining who is responsible for the attacks, which could lead to them being sanctioned by the UNSC. But any such sanctions would require a new resolution, which Russia could veto.
The Syrian civil war entered its fifth year and has caused the deaths of more than 230,000 people with at least 60,000 missing. The war has also displaced nearly 10 million people. More than 15 million people have been displaced by conflicts in Syria and Iraq, many without food or shelter, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) revealed. The vast majority of Syrian refugees have fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. The UNHCR announced in June that Turkey has the largest number of refugees in the world with 2 million Syrian refugees. Western countries have been frequently criticized by aid agencies and the U.N. for not opening their borders to Syrian refugees, as the most developed countries have received the least number of refugees.
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