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French place three conditions on accepting Russia's Syria initiative

January 30, 2014 at 11:31 am

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius wants those who used chemical weapons in Syria to be brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC), not to be left without punishment.


In a statement issued in Paris, Fabius described the initiative by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to put the Syrian chemical weapons under international monitoring as “worthwhile”. However, he noted that France has three conditions for this initiative.

According to Fabius, the conditions are: (1) for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to put all chemical stock under international monitoring as fast as possible, (2) for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution in this regard, and (3) for all parties to have respect for this resolution.

Fabius added that the perpetrators of the chemical massacre on 21 August should be brought to justice before the ICC.

While the Syrian Foreign Minister, who is in Moscow at the moment, welcomed the Russian initiative, the Americans expressed scepticism. Several American officials explained that they are not sure if the Syrian regime would deal positively with this initiative.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said that he might ask the Security Council to demand that the Syrian regime move its chemical stock to a safe place before being destroyed.