US and allies to press for ‘robust’ Syria resolution

US Secretary of State John Kerry today briefed Foreign Secretary William Hague and French President Francois Hollande on the deal to end Syria’s chemical weapons programme.

A day after visiting Israeli leaders, Mr Kerry was in Paris to meet his counterparts from France, Britain, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, who had pressed for military strikes against the government of Bashar Assad for the poison gas attack last month that killed hundreds.

Mr Hollande described the US-Russia deal on Syria’s chemical weapons as an “important step” towards the much bigger goal of a political solution to the civil war. But in a TV address he warned: “The military option must remain; otherwise there will be no pressure.”

He said that France, Britain and the US will seek a “robust” UN resolution for Syria’s removal of chemical weapons. The framework agreement was hammered out by Mr Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during three days of talks in Geneva.

Describing it as a “significant step forward,” Mr Hague said: “The priority must now be full and prompt implementation of the agreement, to ensure the transfer of Syria’s chemical weapons to international control. The onus is now on the Assad regime to comply with this agreement in full. The international community, including Russia, must hold the regime to account.”

At the weekend, Russia and the US called for an inventory of Assad’s chemical weapons programme within a week, with a view to eradicating it by the middle of next year. Mr Hollande said while this was an “important step”, pressure must be maintained on ending the civil war that has killed 100,000 people over two years.

Meanwhile, a report by UN inspectors who investigated the gas attack in a Damascus suburb was today expected to be revealed to a closed session of the Security Council. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who will brief the council on the findings, has already revealed that he expects the report to provide “overwhelming” confirmation that chemical weapons were used.