UNSC: Quick action to attribute blame for chlorine attacks in Syria

“A large majority of UN Security Council members support a US effort to create a way to attribute blame for chlorine attacks in Syria and are ready to move quickly in the next few days,” the President of the UN Security Council, Raimonda Murmokaitė, said.

In a statement, Murmokaitė, the permanent representative of Lithuania to the United Nations whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, said that the majority of the members expressed their support for a proposal to “establish a mechanism allowing experts access to look into attacks to uncover who was responsible for the use of chemical weapons.”

The statement was made after closed-door consultations to discuss the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ report on use in Syria.

Murmokaitė also pointed out that the members of the Security Council have acknowledged the increase in the use of chlorine gas in Syria recently, noting that representatives of member states addressed a number of issues related to this, including determining the party responsible for the use of these weapons.

She also said that the council will take action in the next few days regarding a draft resolution in this context, which is currently being formulated by the US.

As for her expectations for the adoption of this draft resolution, Murmokaitė said: “It is too early to talk about this. We must first take a look at the content of the resolution. The Americans have told us they are working quickly to complete it.”

She also added that a date has not yet been set for the vote on the draft resolution, but Murmokaitė reiterated that “a large majority of members support the proposal to establish a mechanism to investigate and determine the party responsible for using chlorine gas in Syria.”

In March, the Security Council passed a resolution that threatened action for such attacks but has been unable to follow through with it because no one has a mandate to assign blame

The parties involved in the Syrian crisis are all accusing each other of being responsible for the chlorine gas attacks, but Western nations say the attacks were carried out using helicopters which are only possessed by the Syrian regime.