The UN Security Council met behind closed doors today to discuss chemical weapons use in Syria as the United States, France and Britain pushed for sanctions on those responsible for the attacks.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley said she hoped a draft sanctions resolution which has been under discussion for months could be put to a vote in the Security Council.
Russia is expected to use its veto to block the measure if it comes up for a vote. That would be the seventh time that Moscow has resorted to its veto to shield its military ally, Syria.
"We have worked with the UK and France to make sure this resolution comes on board and then we will find out which countries have an excuse for chemical weapons and which ones are really going to say this is a problem," Haley told reporters on her way into the meeting.
British Deputy Ambassador Peter Wilson said the proposed text would be put to a vote "in the coming days".
The draft resolution follows a joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which concluded in October that the Syrian military had carried out at least three chemical attacks in 2014 and 2015.
The panel also found that Islamic State jihadists had used mustard gas in an attack in 2015.
"We now have clear evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria against civilian populations and converging indications that such weapons continue to be used in this country," said French Ambassador Francois Delattre.
Delattre said the council must act quickly to punish those behind chemical attacks, adding: "On the scale of threats to peace and security, we are at 10 here."
The draft resolution, seen by AFP, would impose a global travel ban and assets freeze on 11 Syrians, mostly military officials including the head of Syrian air force intelligence and the commander of air operations in areas where attacks occurred.
These commanders are said to have been involved in an assault by helicopters that dropped chlorine barrel-bombs on three opposition-held villages - Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin.
Among the entities that would be blacklisted is the CERS research centre in Damascus, described as responsible for developing and producing chemical weapons, and five firms said to be front companies for CERS.
The draft resolution would also ban the sale, supply or transfer to the Syrian armed forces or to the government of helicopters or related materiel including spare parts.
The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons in the nearly six-year war. Russia has dismissed the investigative panel's findings as "inconclusive".
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