Gatilov Urges UN Response to Syria’s Request to Investigate Chemical Weapons Use in Aleppo
MOSCOW, (ST) – Russia has urged the UN General Secretariat to respond positively, in accordance with laws, to the Syrian government’s request to investigate the incident of using chemical weapons in Khan al-Assal area of Aleppo countryside, Genadi Gatilov, the Deputy Russian Foreign Minister said on Tuesday, describing the Secretariat’s stance in this respect as unconstructive.
Talking to journalists in Moscow ahead of the forthcoming visit of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to Russia on May 16th, Gatilov said ” this problem can be solved when the UN General Secretariat responds to the Syrian government’s request regarding the investigation of chemical weapons’ use in Syria,” affirming that Russia supports such a step.
He pointed out that Syria’s request had reached the UN Chief and it should have been implemented by sending the already formed inspection team to Syria.
Concerning the International Conference, scheduled to be held over the next weeks to discuss Syria, Gatilov said a soon conference on Syria is necessary to secure the implementation of the agreements signed in Geneva on June 30th 2012.
He pointed out that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the forthcoming meeting on Syria during their meeting in Moscow last week. The two officials came to an agreement on the need to encourage the Syrian government and Syria’s opposition groups to resolve the crisis through negotiations.
Gatilov said that the UN Chief also favors a political solution to the Syrian crisis saying that there is no alternative to a diplomatic solution in Syria.
Regarding the issue of opening so-called “humanitarian corridors” in Syria, Gatilov said “Regrettably, such destructive ideas keep appearing from time to time, but no one has ever taken the trouble of thinking about their consequences. In our opinion, such decisions could be adopted exclusively by the UN Security Council and any other measures will be absolutely illegitimate.”
The Russian diplomat affirmed that the “Libyan scenario has shown that the Security Council resolutions can be interpreted too loosely and can be made to serve certain political goals.”
” We all remember that the arms embargo imposed on Libya was used by many countries to supply weapons to one of the sides in the conflict, and the no-fly zone, which was created to protect the civilian population, became an instrument for dismantling the country’s infrastructure,” Gatilov said, pointing out that the results of international intervention in Libya can still be seen in what is going on in Libya.
” That is why we are very closely following any new suggestions related to this matter,” he added.
H. Mustafa