This image posted on the Twitter page of Syria’s al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front on Saturday, April 2, 2016, shows weapons captured by Nusra Front during the militants attack on the northern village of al-Ais in Aleppo province, Syria. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 12 Hezbollah fighters were killed and dozens were wounded in Saturday’s attack by militants led by al-Qaida’s Syria branch – known as the Nusra Front – on the northern village of al-Ais. The title in Arabic that reads “spoils by the holy warriors in al-Ais.” AP
UNITED NATIONS — Russia and China introduced a draft UN resolution Wednesday aimed at preventing extremist groups like the Islamic State and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front from developing or using chemical weapons in Syria.
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the proposed Security Council resolution will fill the “missing link” in current resolutions and could serve as a deterrent because “if terrorists plan to use chemical weapons, in our experience, sometimes they try to blame the Syrian government.”
“Our hope is that if they know that we are monitoring their activities, the incentive to use chemical weapons in the hope that the responsibility for that can be shifted elsewhere … will diminish,” Churkin said.
Churkin said there have been numerous reports recently “of terrorist groups in Syria and neighboring Iraq using chemical weapons.”
He cited a report just a few days ago from Deir el-Zour, where government-held areas are blockaded by Islamic State militants, and a recent report from Aleppo “where terrorists used chemical weapons and actually admitted to their use.” There are also numerous reports that extremists may be preparing chemical weapons, he said.
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Churkin said suspicions of possible chemical weapons use by Syria are already under investigation by the chemical weapons watchdog and international weapons inspectors, but there has been no reporting on alleged used of these deadly weapons by “terrorist” groups, he said.
The draft resolution would require countries — especially Syria’s neighbors Turkey and Iraq — to immediately report any actions by extremist groups to transfer, develop or acquire chemical weapons to the Security Council and to a recently established international body comprising the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. It is called the Joint Investigative Mechanism or JIM and is charged with establishing who is responsible for chemical attacks in Syria, he said.
The draft would also require the JIM to monitor any alleged activities and report monthly to the Security Council, he said.
Churkin said that in Wednesday’s closed-door discussion of the draft resolution some members said there should be a broader resolution. But he said that will take time and “we think we cannot wait.”
A Security Council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussion was private, said there is a gap in reporting on extremists seeking chemical weapons but seriously questioned any monitoring by the JIM, which has a very small staff.
The diplomat suggested Russia might be trying to divert the JIM from determining responsibility for seven alleged chemical attacks by a September deadline, noting that the Syrian government, Moscow’s close ally, has been accused in several cases.
While there is certainly a threat of “terrorist” groups using chemical weapons in Europe, the United States or elsewhere, Churkin stressed that “the greatest threat is ISIL in Syria and Iraq where they have acquired very serious territorial footholds.”
He cited reports of chemical weapon precursors being delivered to extremists from Turkey. Earlier this month, Russia said $1.9 million worth of explosives and industrial chemicals were smuggled across Turkey’s border to extremist groups.
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