The United States has condemned the use of chemical weapons by Syria, after a probe by the United Nations found that Syrian government troops were responsible for two toxic gas attacks.
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Mr Price said that the United States will seek accountability at the UN.
It examined nine cases in seven towns where chemical weapons were believed to have been used, and identified responsible parties in three cases. However, the committee was not able to determine with certainty that chemical weapons were used in 6 other incidents that it investigated.
In a summary of the report, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü says that most of the 122 samples from “multiple locations” inside Syria “indicate potentially undeclared chemical weapons-related activities”. Calling the use of chemical weapons “a barbaric tool, repugnant to the conscience of mankind”, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power urged the Security Council to take “strong and swift action” against the perpetrators.
Russian Federation – an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – and China have previously protected the Syrian government from action by blocking several resolutions, including a bid to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
‘It is essential that the members of the Security Council come together to ensure consequences for those who have used chemical weapons in Syria, ‘ she said.
The French ambassador to the UN, Alexis Lamek, said: “When it comes to proliferation, use of chemical weapons, such weapons of mass destruction, we can not afford being weak and the council will have to act”. While chlorine has legitimate, peaceful uses, the Chemical Weapons Convention bans its use as a weapon.
The UN’s Security Council (UNSC) is due to discuss the report on Tuesday.
When asked by reporters whether the Obama administration had done enough to address Assad’s use of chemical weapons against civilians, White House spokesman Josh Earnest pushed back, citing the United States intervention in Iraq in 2003.
The inquiry did not recommend further investigation of the remaining three cases in Kafr Zita on April 11, 2014, and Al-Tamanah on April 29-30, 2014, and May 25-26, 2014. Damascus rejects the allegation, saying the attack was carried out by militants operating inside the country to draw in foreign intervention. “The council will have to act”, he said.
But following reports that Syria had used sarin gas in 2013, Obama – in the face of Republican and Democratic opposition – delayed in authorizing military action. The United States on Wednesday also condemned the use of chemical weapons by Syria.
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The U.S. and other Western allies are in the process of determining whether the OPCW’s findings can be used to argue Syria has violated the United Nations demand, outlined in Resolution 2118, that a country must fully cooperate with worldwide inspectors tasked with holding the Assad leadership accountable to its promise to destroy all chemical weapons.
