5 UN SC permanent members to hold consultations on Syria

Five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (Russia, China, Great Britain, the United States, and France) will hold closed-door consultations on Wednesday, September 11, to consider a draft resolution on Syria proposed by Paris, sources in the U.N. headquarters told ITAR-TASS. The participants in the meeting will discuss the draft resolution proposed by France with the support of the United States and Great Britain, the diplomat said. Another source said the meeting was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, EST. France suggested placing all responsibility for the chemical attack in Damascus’ suburb on August 21 on the Syrian authorities and threatened that if new incidents occurred it would take proper measures provided for in Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which allows the use of force against states. The three Western permanent members of the U.N. Security Council insist on the adoption of the draft resolution even though U.N. inspectors have not yet confirmed the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The draft resolution also reflects Russia’s initiative to put Syria’s chemical weapons stock under international control. The authors of the document also suggested referring the situation in Syria since March 2011, when the conflict between the government and opposition broke out, to the International Criminal Court. The draft resolution may be discussed at a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva later this week.