UN Syria resolution not to refer to Chapter 7 of UN Charter: Lavrov

Iran Press TV

Tue Sep 17, 2013 2:2PM GMT

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the resolution that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is to adopt on Syria will not refer to Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, regulating the use of military force against Damascus.

The foreign minister made the remarks during a conference after a meeting held with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius in the Russian capital, Moscow.

"The resolution of the Security Council, which will approve the decision of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) executive council, will not be over Chapter 7. We said it distinctly in Geneva and the document that we agreed on says no single word about it," Lavrov said.

Lavrov's statement comes days after Moscow and Washington agreed on a Russian-proposed deal to place Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons under international supervision. Damascus immediately accepted the plan.

The Russian minister added that the resolution would control the implementation of decisions taken by the OPCW.

Hundreds of people were killed and scores of others injured in the chemical attack which took place on August 21 in the suburbs of Damascus.

The militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that the deadly attack was carried out by the army.

The US and its allies quickly called for military action against Damascus.

The Syrian government rejected the accusations, saying it was a false-flag operation carried out by Takfiri groups in a bid to draw in foreign military intervention.

Meanwhile a recent UN report says there was 'clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used in Ein Tarma, Moadamiyah and Amalaka in the Ghouta area of Damascus.'

SZH/PR