Syria Chemical Arsenal Inspection Could Start Tuesday
International experts will begin inspecting Syria's chemical arsenal by Tuesday under a plan set to be approved by the world's top chemical weapons monitoring group.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will vote late Friday on the draft resolution, which calls for inspections within 30 days at all chemical weapons sites declared by Syria's government.
The draft also requires Syria to provide OPCW inspectors access to "any other site identified by a State Party as having been involved in the Syrian chemical weapons program."
If approved, the demands would become part of a U.N. Security Council draft resolution that would formalize a plan requiring President Bashar al-Assad to give up his chemical weapons by mid-2014.
The United States and Russia agreed Thursday on the language of the text, following weeks of tough negotiations over how to ensure Mr. Assad complies with the disarmament plan.
The 15-member Security Council held an urgent, closed-door meeting late Thursday to consider the draft. Diplomats say a vote could happen by late Friday.
U.S. officials praised the text as legally binding and enforceable, though it does not include an automatic trigger for enforcement if Syria does not comply, as the White House had wanted.
Instead, the draft says the Council could hold a second vote to impose measures under Chapter Seven of the U.N. Charter, which allows for possible economic sanctions or military action.
The text says non-compliance includes "unauthorized transfer of chemical weapons or any use of chemical weapons by anyone in the Syrian Arab Republic," including both Mr. Assad's government and rebel forces.
President Assad agreed earlier this month to give up his chemical weapons, following threats of U.S. military strikes in response to a poison gas attack on a rebel-held suburb last month that killed hundreds.
Assad denies carrying out the attack. He and his Russian allies instead say rebels trying to overthrow his government carried out the chemical attack.
The draft agreed to Thursday would ban Syria from possessing chemical weapons. It also condemned "in the strongest possible" terms the August 21 attack and says the use of such weapons anywhere is a threat to international peace and security.
Though the draft's language is not as strong as the U.S. and its Western allies on the Security Council had wanted, its passage would break a two-and-a-half-year deadlock at the world body.
Russia and China, both permanent members of the Council, have already vetoed three bills that would punish Mr. Assad's government.
The conflict, which began as a mostly peaceful uprising against Mr. Assad's government, has killed over 100,000 people.
Source:Voice of America
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