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| UN in deadlock after US and Russia vote against each other to investigate Syria chemical weapons attack | UN in deadlock after US and Russia vote against each other to investigate Syria chemical weapons attack |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The United Nations remains in deadlock after the US and Russia vote against each others’ calls for an investigation into the latest suspected chemical attack in Syria. | The United Nations remains in deadlock after the US and Russia vote against each others’ calls for an investigation into the latest suspected chemical attack in Syria. |
| The Security Council voted on two resolutions, posed by each of the countries, and the US text was vetoed by Russia while the Russian text was not adopted because it did not garner enough votes. In what has become a characteristic of these meetings, the US and UK traded diplomatic barbs with Russia over the country's "support" for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, who US Ambassador the UN Nikki Haley accused of using chemical weapons. She expressed disappointment in the group, saying it "showed our complete failure to protect the Syrian people". | The Security Council voted on two resolutions, posed by each of the countries, and the US text was vetoed by Russia while the Russian text was not adopted because it did not garner enough votes. In what has become a characteristic of these meetings, the US and UK traded diplomatic barbs with Russia over the country's "support" for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, who US Ambassador the UN Nikki Haley accused of using chemical weapons. She expressed disappointment in the group, saying it "showed our complete failure to protect the Syrian people". |
| The US resolution had proposed an independent mechanism for investigating what happened in the 7 April attack in the rebel-held town of Douma where 60 people were killed and at least 1,000 injured in what appeared to be a chlorine gas attack. It also called for an "attribution" clause, that would identify the perpetrator of the attack. Russia had proposed that the UN Secretary-General choose the investigators but that the results be reviewed by Russia for "acceptance" prior to making them public, according to Ms Haley. It also did not contain any clause to assign attribution of the suspected attack. | The US resolution had proposed an independent mechanism for investigating what happened in the 7 April attack in the rebel-held town of Douma where 60 people were killed and at least 1,000 injured in what appeared to be a chlorine gas attack. It also called for an "attribution" clause, that would identify the perpetrator of the attack. Russia had proposed that the UN Secretary-General choose the investigators but that the results be reviewed by Russia for "acceptance" prior to making them public, according to Ms Haley. It also did not contain any clause to assign attribution of the suspected attack. |
| She said the US had worked with other Security Council members to ensure their concerns about establishing a "truly independent," impartial, and transparent investigation were taken into account - including provisions from Russia. However, she said the US then made "common sense" changes to the document that was put up for vote today. "We accepted every recommendation that did not compromise impartiality," she noted. | She said the US had worked with other Security Council members to ensure their concerns about establishing a "truly independent," impartial, and transparent investigation were taken into account - including provisions from Russia. However, she said the US then made "common sense" changes to the document that was put up for vote today. "We accepted every recommendation that did not compromise impartiality," she noted. |
| "You're either for an independent, impartial investigation or you're not," Ms Haley said, adding that Russia's negotiation on the mechanism indicating they were only interested in protecting their ally in Damascus, not in actually finding out who carried out the alleged chemical attack. "Month after month the Assad regime has strung along" the Security Council, Ms Haley said, as the government avoids sanctions through its support from Russia and sometimes China. | |
| "Russia chose the Assad regime again over the unity of this council," she said at the end of her remarks. | |
| The Russian Ambassador the UN Vasily Nebenzya did not mince words either. He said the US resolution was just a means of justifying US military action against Syria; the US has "simply been looking for a pretext" to show in Washington, he said. Bolivia also agreed, Ambassador Sacha Llorenty said that he voted against the US resolution because Bolvia objected to bringing a resolution to vote the US knew would not pass and that it appeared to have been drafted as a way to warrant another US missile strike in Syria. Mr Nebenzya asked Ms Haley not to "drag the Security Council into your adventures". Both referenced the US missile strike last April after the suspected chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun. | |
| More follows… | More follows… |