The United Nations Security
Council voted unanimously on Friday night to secure and destroy Syria's
chemical weapons stockpile, a landmark decision aimed at taking poison gas off
the battlefield in the escalating 2 1/2-year conflict.
The vote after two weeks of intense
negotiations marked a major breakthrough in the paralysis that has gripped the
council since the Syrian uprising began.
Russia and China previously
vetoed three Western-backed resolutions pressuring Syrian President Bashar
Assad's government to end the violence.
"Today's historic resolution
is the first hopeful news on Syria in a long time," UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon told the council immediately after the vote.
The agreement allows the start of
a mission to rid Syria of its estimated 1,000-ton chemical arsenal by mid-2014,
significantly accelerating a destruction timetable that often takes years to
complete.
Russia and the United States had
been at odds over the issue of enforcement.
Russia opposed any reference to
Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which allows for military and non-military actions
to promote peace and security.
The final resolution states that
the Security Council will impose measures under Chapter 7 if Syria fails to
comply, but this would require adoption of a second resolution.
The vote came just hours after
the world's chemical weapons watchdog adopted a US-Russian plan that lays out
benchmarks and timelines for cataloguing, quarantining and ultimately
destroying Syria's chemical weapons, their precursors and delivery systems.
The Security Council resolution enshrines the plan
approved by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, making it
legally binding.
Positions:
The UN Security Council would be
prepared to take punitive steps in the event of confirmed violations of a
resolution demanding the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.
"The United Nations Security
Council will stand ready to take action under Chapter 7 of the UN charter,
quite clearly," Lavrov said after the council unanimously approved the
resolution. He was referring to the part of the charter covering the council's
power to enforce its decisions with sanctions or military force. Any such steps
would require a new resolution.
This as, UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon said world powers were aiming to hold an international peace conference
in mid-November to help put an end to Syria's 2-1/2 year civil war.
For his part, Syrian UN
Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said a resolution adopted by the U.N. Security
Council to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons covers most of Damascus' concerns.
Ja'afari, reacting after the
Security Council unanimously adopted the resolution, said countries supporting
Syria's rebels - Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France and the United States
- should also abide by the resolution.
He said the Syrian government was
"fully committed" to attending a proposed November peace conference
in Geneva aimed at ending Syria's civil war.
On the field:
A Syrian activist group said
rebels have captured a military post south of the country on the border with
Jordan after four days of fighting.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said 26 soldiers were killed in the battle as well as a number of
rebels, including seven foreign fighters.
The post that was captured early Saturday
served in the past as the customs office on the border with Jordan. It was
turned into an army post years ago.
The post is in the southern city of Daraa
where the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March 2011.
REUTERS/AP
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