The UN Security Council has discussed a draft
resolution on ridding Syria of chemical weapons
after the US and Russia agreed the text.
A vote in the 15-member Council could now take place
later on Friday, diplomats at the UN in New York said.
The agreement breaks a two-and-a-half year deadlock
in the UN over Syria.
It is seen as a key step in a US-Russia brokered plan
earlier this month under which Syria agreed to disclose
its arsenal and eliminate it by mid-2014.
Russia and China have three times blocked Western-
backed resolutions in the Security Council against
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
'Binding and enforceable'
The council discussed the draft resolution on Thursday
evening at the UN headquarters.
Moscow and Washington had earlier disagreed over the
wording of the draft.
The US - backed by France and the UK - had pushed for
a resolution carrying the threat of military action.
Russia had opposed this. The five nations are
permanent veto-wielding members of the council.
But a deal was struck on Thursday.
The US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power,
tweeted: "Agreement reached w/Russia on UNSC [UN
Security Council] Resolution legally obligating #Syria to
give up CW [chemical weapons] they used on their
people. Going to full UNSC tonight."
She added that the draft "establishes that Syria's use of
CW is threat to international peace & security & creates
a new norm against the use of CW".
British envoy Sir Mark Lyall Grant also described the
document as "binding and enforceable".
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed that
an agreement had been reached.
Although the draft refers to Chapter VII of the UN
Charter, which allows the use of military force, a
second resolution authorising such a move would be
needed.
This is something that Russia would almost certainly
veto, the BBC's Nick Bryant in New York reports.
The proposed resolution also says that those
responsible for the use of chemical weapons in Syria
"should be held accountable".
But there is no mention that they should be tried at the
International Criminal Court - a significant weakening
from previous drafts, our correspondent adds.
Nevertheless, one senior official at the US state
department described the agreement as a
"breakthrough", saying the document "makes
absolutely clear that failure of the Assad regime to
comply will have consequences".
US and Russian officials later said a vote on the
proposed resolution could take place as early as Friday
evening.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons (OPCW) still has to signal that it has accepted
the US-Russian plan agreed earlier this month.
Then chemical experts can start taking practical steps
towards inspecting and securing Syria's stockpiles.
'Serious grounds'
Washington had threatened the Syrian government with
military action over a chemical weapons attack in the
Ghouta area of Damascus on 21 August.
A UN report on the attack published later confirmed
that the nerve agent sarin had been used in a rocket
attack there, although it did not apportion blame.
France, the UK and US insist the report clearly backs
their stance that only the government forces were
capable of carrying out the attack.
Russia rejects this argument. Mr Lavrov has said that
Moscow has "serious grounds" to believe the attack had
been a provocation by rebel forces.
President Assad also says the opposition forces were to
blame.
More than 100,000 people have died since the uprising
began in 2011.
Millions of Syrians have fled the country, mostly to
neighbouring nations. Millions more have been
internally displaced.
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