Russian parliament drafts special statement on Syria
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E-mail Xinhua, September 10, 2013
Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, marked the first working day after the summer recess by drafting a special statement on the situation in Syria, Duma Chairman Sergei Naryshkin said Tuesday.
"I ask the specialized (International Affairs) Committee to prioritize the work on a special statement on the (Syrian) problem taking into account the recent, hopefully positive, developments," Naryshkin told an opening session of the Duma.
He noted that these "positive developments" were due to the "principal and consistent" position of Russia, which has recently proposed placing Syrian chemical weapons under international control.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington might reconsider its decision to strike Syria if President Bashar al-Assad turns over "every single bit" of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week, and allows the full and total accounting for that.
Soon after, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov proposed that Damascus joins the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and puts its chemical weapons storage facilities under international control.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem was quick to welcome the proposal.
Naryshkin told members of the Duma that the "Syrian knot has been tied too tightly."
The United States previously threatened that the use of chemical weapons would be crossing a "red line".
According to Naryshkin, the U.S. authorities knew in advance that chemical weapons would be used in Syria.
"I have a strong feeling that they (the U.S.) knew it for sure that the chemical weapons in Syria would be certainly used," he said.
Damascus denied that the government were behind the attack, while Moscow repeatedly called for thorough investigation.
The Duma speaker added that Russian MPs would closely cooperate with their colleagues from countries that respect international laws.
He described the reluctance of the U.S. congressmen to meet with Russian parliamentary delegation over Syria "a sign of weakness."
Moscow proposed to send a delegation of Russian lawmakers for direct talks with their U.S. colleagues on the Syrian problem on Sept.2, but the trip was reportedly called off after congressional leaders refused to meet.
