Ban seeks Member States' expertise to strip Syria of its chemical weapons

One day after Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council that chemical weapons were in deed used in Syria, he called on General Assembly members late Tuesday to provide the UN with their expertise to help destroy the banned weapons, and possibly with human rights monitors. "This will be a huge and complex undertaking, not least because it will take place in the midst of a civil war. We will need to call on the expertise of a wide range of Member States, and I look forward to the General Assembly's engagement and support," Ban told the General Assembly minutes after it opened its 68th session. He welcomed the US-Russian plan last Saturday in Geneva regarding the international control and destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles, and expressed hope that the Security Council and the Executive Council of the Organisation of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) "can move quickly" to consider and implement the plan. He said the OPCW Executive Council in The Hague will meet this Friday to endorse the US-Russian plan, and expects the Security Council to adopt a resolution in this regard early next week. "I urge them to embrace the extraordinary Agreement that was adopted in the bilateral negotiations in Geneva. While the timelines are ambitious, they can be achieved with the cooperation and support of Syria and other critical actors," he told the Assembly. He added that "given the gravity of the situation, I have urged the members of the Security Council to consider ways to ensure enforcement of, and compliance with, the plan through a clear and legally binding resolution," as stipulated by the plan. Ban's call on the Council to unite and issue an enforceable resolution on Syria comes at a time Russia and France admitted earlier today differences over Syria. Recalling last week report by the UN Commission of Inquiry, established by the Human Rights Council, which stated that all parties to the Syria conflict have committed murder, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, rape, hostage taking and torture against civilians, Ban urged Member States to "consider what more we can do to prevent human rights violations, including through the possible use of UN monitors." He expressed regret that "communities that had once lived in relative harmony are now torn with sectarian tension. "As I said to the Security Council (yesterday) and repeat now to the General Assembly, this incident must serve as a wake-up call for more determined efforts to resolve the conflict and end the unbearable suffering of the Syrian people. This is our shared responsibility," he said. The new Assembly President John Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda opened the 68th session today saying the upcoming year will be "pivotal" for this Assembly as we seek to identify the parameters of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. "The magnitude of the task before us will require decisive action and the highest levels of collaboration and we must prove ourselves and our efforts to be equal to the enormity of the task," he said. Closing the work of the Assembly's 67th session, his predecessor Vuc Jeremic of Serbia reminded the Assembly of its "glaring failure to halt the tragedy" in Syria, and said "I feel deeply ashamed that we have not been able to find a way to stop the carnage" there.