Iraq News

UN chief wants Syria gas attacks probe to be revived

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday (January 18th) urged the Security Council to revive efforts to punish those responsible for chemical weapons use in Syria, AFP reported.

Guterres said the use of chemical weapons in Syria's war "seriously challenges the global taboo against these weapons of mass destruction".

"If the use of chemical weapons in Syria is once again determined, the international community needs to find an appropriate way to identify those responsible and hold them to account," he told a council meeting on non-proliferation.

Russia used its veto power twice in November to block the renewal of a UN investigative panel tasked with identifying those responsible for chemical attacks in Syria.

A month earlier, the panel had released a report that found the Syrian air force had dropped sarin on the opposition-held village of Khan Sheikhun in April, killing scores of people.

The Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), set up by Russia and the US in 2015, shut down in November, but Western powers have kept up efforts to restore some sort of mechanism for accountability.

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