France to propose UN draft on Syrian chemical weapons

Russian FM says Moscow working on "effective, concrete" plan for putting Syria's chemical weapons under international control, in discussions with Damascus; China announces support for Russian plan.

By REUTERS
syrian mourn those killed in chemical weapons attack 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
syrian mourn those killed in chemical weapons attack 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said France would propose a United Nations Security Council resolution setting out conditions for Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control and accept that they will be dismantled, a plan that could avert planned US military strikes in response to the country's suspected use of its arsenal on civilians.
US President Barack Obama has argued that Syrian President Bashar Assad, fighting to continue his family's four-decade rule, apparently used chemical weapons against its own population in an attack on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21.
Hours after US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday commented that a strike could be avoided if the Syrian leadership handed over its chemical weapons, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had put a proposal to his visiting Syrian counterpart during talks in Moscow.
Russia, along with China, has fiercely opposed US plans for military action, and both have stymied any UN Security Council approval of such a move.
Fabius told a news conference in Paris the resolution - under Chapter 7 of the UN charter covering possible military and non-military action to restore peace - would warn of "extremely serious" consequences for Damascus if it breached those conditions.
Meanwhile, Russia's Lavrov said Tuesday that Moscow is working on an "effective, concrete" plan for putting Syria's chemical weapons under international control and is discussing the details with Damascus.
Lavrov told reporters the plan would be presented to other nations soon and that the proposal, which he announced on Monday, was not entirely Russian but grew out of contacts with the United States.
China said Tuesday it backed the Russian proposal for Syria to hand over its chemical weapons for destruction.
"We welcome and support the Russian proposal," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters at a regular news briefing.
"As long as it is a proposal that helps ameliorate the current tense situation in Syria, is beneficial to maintaining peace and stability in Syria and the region, and is beneficial to a political resolution, the international community ought to give it positive consideration," Hong said.
Hong added that a Syrian opposition delegation from the "All-Nation Union for Dialogue" was visiting China from Tuesday at the invitation of an academic group and would meet Chinese officials for a "deep exchange of views".
It was not immediately clear which opposition group Hong was referring to and he did not provide its English name.
China has previously played host to both government and opposition figures as it tries to show it is not taking sides in the conflict and wants to help find a political solution.
Damascus has also welcomed the Russian initiative, but it has not spelled out whether Syria would, or even could, comply.
Rebels fighting Assad's forces on the ground, where hundreds are being killed by conventional bullets and explosives every week, dismissed any such weapons transfer as impossible to police and a decoy to frustrate US plans to attack.
The US State Department later said Kerry had called Lavrov to tell him that while his remarks had been rhetorical and the United States was not going to "play games," if there was a serious proposal, then Washington would take a look at it.
A strong response on the Syrian chemical weapons attack would help deter North Korea from using its "massive chemical weapons arsenal", US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James Miller said in Beijing earlier on Tuesday.
"I emphasized the massive chemical weapons arsenal that North Korea has and that we didn't want to live in a world in which North Korea felt the threshold for chemical weapons use had been lowered," Miller told reporters.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Washington to proceed with "extreme caution" on Syria and Chinese President Xi Jinping told Obama at a G20 summit in Russia that a military strike could not solve the problem.