03:03
Tieng Anh Vui
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is visiting Moscow to try to persuade Russia to support a UN Security Council resolution on Syria.
On Monday, UN weapons inspectors said the nerve gas sarin was used against civilians on a relatively large scale in a suburb of Damascus last month.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described it as a war crime.
France is now trying to win support for a UN resolution with the threat of serious consequences.
But Russia, which is Syria's strongest ally, says the government of President Bashar al-Assad should first be given the chance to give up its chemical weapons.
Mr Fabius will discuss with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a possible UN Security Council resolution on the agreement to place Syria's chemical arsenal under international control.
Syria's chemical weapons
- CIA believes Syria's chemical weapons can be "delivered by aircraft, ballistic missile, and artillery rockets"
- Syria believed to possess mustard gas and sarin, and also tried to develop more toxic nerve agents such as VX gas
- Syria has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) or ratified the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)
Sources: CSIS, RUSI
Under the deal brokered at the weekend by Russia and the US, Syria will disclose its chemical weapons within a week and eliminate them by mid-2014.
The US, UK and France say the UN inspectors' report vindicates their stance that Syria is to blame for the 21 August attack.
The US and UK ambassadors to the UN said technical details showed only the regime could have been responsible for the attack.
But Russia said claims that the rebels were responsible could not be shrugged off.
It questioned why no rebel fighters were among the casualties if it were a government attack.
Mr Assad has denied responsibility and blamed rebels.
US allegations that the government was responsible led to threats of military action and then a US-Russia deal for Syria to make safe its chemical arms.
Positive for sarin
The UN report did not attribute blame for the attack, as that was not part of its remit.
The UN investigators examined blood, hair, urine and rocket samples. Mr Ban said 85% of the blood samples had tested positive for sarin.
Mr Ban was asked at a news conference whether he knew who was behind the attack.
He replied that "we may all have our own thoughts", but it was for "others to decide" what steps should be taken to bring those responsible to justice.
He said the mission was unable to verify the number of casualties, but referred to the "terrible loss of life on 21 August".
Mr Ban added this was the most significant confirmed use of chemical weapons against civilians since Saddam Hussein used them in Halabja in 1988.
Đăng ký: Tieng Anh Vui
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