France to put Syria resolution before the UN Security Council

France's FM Laurent Fabius speaks during press meeting at the Quai d' Orsay, in Paris France has announced plans to submit a resolution on Syria to the UN Security Council. In accord with the new plan for Syria to hand over chemical weapons, France said it wants inspectors to verify the process.  France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius speaks during a press meeting at the Quai d' Orsay, in Paris Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013. Fabuis said France will float a resolution in the U.N. Security Council aimed at forcing Syria to make public its chemical weapons program, place it under international control and dismantle it.
During a press conference in Paris on Tuesday morning, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that France had begun taking the steps toward bringing a resolution to the United Nations Security Council, which would require Syria to "bring fully to light" its chemical weapons program. France supported Russia's proposal to require Syria to hand over all chemical weapons, he said, but emphasized that the UN Security Council should use the move as an opportunity to curb future violations of international law by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
 The resolution, as described by Fabius, would require the Security Council to condemn the August 21 chemical weapons attack, referring to the event which prompted US President Barack Obama to seek immediate action against the Assad regime. Officials claim they have concrete evidence implicating the Syrian president's military in the attack, which killed over 1,400 civilians. Assad has denied the allegations.
Syria would also be required to make transparent its chemical weapons program, allow international inspectors to survey the stockpile and oversee its destruction, Fabius said.
On Monday, Russia proposed that al-Assad dismantle his chemical weapons program as the best solution to avoiding a military strike, which loomed as the US Congress deliberated over approving Obama's plans.
Russia's offer came as a surprise, as Moscow has remained firmly opposed to intervening in Syria's civil war. US Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly sparked the idea when he told reporters at a London press conference that al-Assad could resolve the crisis by surrendering his chemical weapons arsenal. The State Department later said his comment was "rhetorical."
The Syrian foreign minister welcomed the last-minute solution, as did the leaders of countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom, which have been pushing for a political solution to the conflict.
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday that Germany welcomed the iniative and would be ready to offer its "considerable experience" and expertise dismantling chemical weapons.
Russia has already begun working on a detailed plan of action with Syrian counterparts, which were due for release shortly, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday.
Strike still 'on the table'
Fabius indicated that France would submit the resolution under Chapter 7 of UN charter so that the international community could legally resort to an armed response to show Assad there would be "serious consequences" if he did not comply. The French resolution would also include bringing the perpetrators of the August 21 attack before an international court.
He said, though, that the draft resolution would not change France's attitude toward a military intervention.
Source: Deutsche Welle