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UN draft resolution urges probe into Syria gas attack

Tuesday, 11 April 2017 6:03 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 12 April 2017 6:11 AM ]

Members of the United Nations Security Council hold a meeting concerning the situation in Syria, at UN headquarters in New York City on April 7, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

A new United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution drafted by Britain, France and the US has called for an investigation into a suspected chemical attack in Syria.

British Ambassador to the UN Matthew Rycroft said in a post on his Twitter account on Tuesday that the resolution would require "full cooperation with the investigation" of a purported gas attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun in Syria’s Idlib Province on April 4 that killed over 80 people.

Last week, the UNSC discussed three separate draft texts proposed by London, Paris and Washington, but failed to vote on any of the measures.

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Russia, West trade barbs at UN over Syria attack

The new motion is the revised version of last week’s texts that condemned the Khan Shaykhun incident and demanded a full investigation into it.

A senior council diplomat said he expected a vote on the revised draft resolution in the coming days.

"We cannot give up and we must try, in good faith, the best we can, to have a text condemning the attack, asking for a thorough investigation," said French Ambassador to the UN Francois Delattre.

An unconscious Syrian child is carried at a hospital in Khan Shaykhun, Idlib province, following a suspected toxic gas attack on April 4, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Western countries rushed to blame the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad for the Khan Shaykhun incident without providing any evidence to support their accusations.

Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said that Damascus did not and would not use chemical arms, even against terror outfits. He also noted that the Syrian military had carried out an airstrike on a depot where terrorists stored chemical weapons.

Read more:

Syria: Terrorists storing chemicals in urban areas

Analysts say President Assad had had no motive to order a chemical attack and draw global ire at a time when his forces have the upper hand on the battlefield against militant groups.

Iran and Russia have called for an impartial investigation into the chemical incident.

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