The UN Security Council will vote Wednesday on a draft resolution demanding that the Syrian government cooperate with an investigation of the suspected chemical attack last week in Idlib province, US diplomats said.
Britain, France and the United States put forward the measure which was slightly revised from a previous text presented last week in response to the suspected sarin gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhun allegedly blamed on the Syrian government.
The vote is scheduled for 3 pm (1900 GMT) and comes as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Moscow to ratchet up pressure on Russia to reconsider its support for the Syrian government.
Russia is expected to use its veto to block the measure, diplomats said. It would be the eighth time that Moscow has resorted to its veto power at the Security Council to block action against its ally Syria.
The draft resolution expresses “horror” at the reported use of chemical weapons in Khan Sheikhun and condemns the alleged attack.
The text expresses full support for investigators from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the joint UN-OPCW investigative panel tasked with determining who is responsible for such attacks.
Russia said last week the attack took place when Syrian air strike hit a terrorist warehouse containing chemical weapons.
Syria firmly denies it knew there were toxic substances in the warehouse, stressing that these allegations could be part of anti-Damascus propaganda.
The allegations of chemical arms use are still made against Syria even as the dismantling of the country’s entire stockpile of chemical weapons as well as relevant production facilities was supervised by the UN.
Foreign-backed militants have repeatedly used chemical weapons against Syrian troops, some of which have been verified by UN officials, but the attacks have often been ignored by Western governments.
Source: Agencies
