A UN Security Council resolution on Syria could mention Chapter VII of the UN Charter which allows force or tough sanctions, but only as a measure that could be invoked if an accord on chemical weapons is violated, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday.
"Chapter VII can be mentioned only as an element of the measures against violators... if there is a refusal to cooperate, carry out obligations or if someone, it does not matter who, uses chemical weapons," Ryabkov stated.
Ryabkov expressed satisfaction that UN chemical weapons experts would be returning to Damascus "tomorrow, September 25" to investigate a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus in August, the Interfax news agency said, quoting comments in parliament.
Envoys from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - met last Thursday for a third straight day to discuss a draft resolution which opens the way for US military ambitions against Syria and further sanctions if they are not happy with results of an agreement over Arab country's chemical weapons.
In a Monday interview with China's state television CCTV Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he is not concerned by the draft resolution, rather he was critic of continued hostility at the side of these countries despite Syria’s transparent cooperation with the international community.
Assad noted the chemical weapons were stored "under special conditions to prevent any terrorist or other destructive forces from tampering with them, that is, destructive forces that could come from other countries."
NTJ/BA