* French FM suggests will not push for chapter 7 resolution
* Says Russian opposition would be “incomprehensible”
* Syria vote at UN could take place this week
By John Irish
NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters) – France said on Monday it
expected the U.N. Security Council to agree on a resolution to
enforce a chemical weapons deal with Syria and appeared to give
up on its previous calls to have a resolution threatening force
against President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia accused the West on Sunday of trying to exploit the
deal between Moscow and Washington with Syria to push through a
council resolution issued under Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter,
which could authorise sanctions or military intervention if
Damascus reneges on its commitments.
Some U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, had
expressed concern about whether agreement on a resolution could
be reached. However, speaking to reporters in New York French
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius appeared to back down.
“For it to be acceptable to France … the resolution should
foresee that measures under Chapter 7 are taken if Syria does
not comply with its commitments in line with the Geneva
agreement,” Fabius said. He added the resolution should also
call for those behind the chemical attack to face justice.
“We should take exactly what was foreseen in Geneva,” Fabius
said. “On that basis we should come to an agreement.”
Russia and the United States brokered the deal in Geneva in
mid-September to avoid possible U.S. military strikes. Under the
deal, Assad would account for his chemical weapons and see them
destroyed by the middle of next year.
The deal stipulated that “in the event of non-compliance,
including unauthorized transfer, or any use of chemical weapons
by anyone in Syria, the U.N. Security Council should impose
measures under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter.”
Envoys from the five big U.N. powers – the United States,
Britain, France, Russia and China – have been meeting in New
York to negotiate a draft resolution to place Syrian chemical
weapons under international control.
“Regarding the Russians, it would be difficult to understand
that given they themselves proposed the ban on chemical weapons
that there would not be an agreement to apply what they
proposed,” Fabius said.
French diplomats said the mention of an eventual recourse to
further measures under Chapter 7 would be a minimum requirement.
They said there was a chance the resolution could be voted
during the U.N. General Assembly, but they aimed to negotiate as
tough a resolution as possible which could delay a vote.
“If there were a violation then it would be up to the
Security Council to take its decisions, but under chapter 7,”
Fabius said.
Russia and China have blocked three U.N. resolutions meant
to pressure Assad during Syria’s civil war, which has killed
more than 110,000 people since 2011.
