What Comes Next After Syria Resolution - East Idaho News
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What Comes Next After Syria Resolution

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GETTY 93013 SyriaFlag?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1380531324301iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Last Friday, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution that forces Syria to give up its chemical weapons stockpiles or face consequences.

On Sunday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told an Italian news service, “Of course we have to comply.  This is our history to comply with every treaty we sign.”

Now comes the hard part — actually, implementing the plan.

Here are some of the nuts and bolts:

— On site inspections are to begin in November and the chemical weapons are to be destroyed by this time next year.

— Syria cannot reject or select any inspectors and must give inspectors unfettered access to all sites.

— If Syria does not comply, the council can impose measures under Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter, which could include authorizing the use of force.

Syria possesses more than 1,000 tons of blister and nerve agents, including mustard, sarin and VX gases.  U.N. inspectors found traces of sarin gas in a Damascus suburb where the U.S. claims 1,400 people were killed by a rocket attack on Aug. 21.  The inspectors made no determination where the gas originated from although Washington and its allies say the evidence points directly to Assad’s regime.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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