- US threatens unilateral action if …
- France, UK renew call for Assad to quit
Russia was sharply criticised yesterday by other world powers at the United Nations Security Council in New York over the chemical weapons deaths in northern Syria.
Moscow’s suggestions that civilians were poisoned by rebel weapons on the ground have been widely rejected. The UK’s foreign secretary, a rebel commander and a weapons expert all said evidence pointed to an attack by the Syrian government, Russia’s ally.
International donors have pledged $6bn (£4.8bn) in aid for Syria this year. Seventy donor nations discussed aid efforts in the war-ravaged country in the Belgian capital, Brussels. According to UK-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 20 children and 52 adults were killed in the chemical incident in Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib province, on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump said the attack, “crossed a lot of lines”, an allusion to his predecessor Barack Obama’s threat to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with air strikes if he used such arms.
It was not clear what, if any, action Trump would take. The comments, which came just a few days after Washington said it was no longer focused on making Assad leave power, widened a rift between the Kremlin and Trump’s White House after initial signals of warmer ties.
Moscow offered an alternative explanation that would shield Assad: that the poison gas belonged to rebels and had leaked from an insurgent weapons depot hit by Syrian bombs. A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Russian explanation was not credible. “We don’t believe it,” the official said.
The United States, Britain and France have proposed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would condemn the attack. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the resolution “unacceptable” and said it was based on “fake information”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would press its case blaming the rebels for the poisoning, signaling a likely veto.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, issued what appeared to be a threat of unilateral action if Security Council members could not agree. “When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action,” she told the council, without elaborating.
Meanwhile, Britain and France yesterday renewed their call for Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad to leave office.
Foreign ministers Boris Johnson of Britain and Jean-Marc Ayrault of France spoke during the conference. “I simply don’t see how Bashar al-Assad can remain in charge after what he has already done,” Johnson said. “Of the 400,000 people who are estimated to have been killed in Syria, he is responsible for the vast majority of the butcher’s bill.”
Ayrault said the attack was a test for Trump, and his stance on Assad. German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel expressed frustration at the lack of clarity on Trump’s position. During his election campaign and as president-elect, Trump said ousting Assad would hand control of Syria to Islamist militants.