{"id":146659,"date":"2018-06-26T11:51:01","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T11:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/uk-calls-for-more-chemical-weapons-powers\/"},"modified":"2018-06-26T11:51:01","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26T11:51:01","slug":"uk-calls-for-more-chemical-weapons-powers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/uk-calls-for-more-chemical-weapons-powers\/","title":{"rendered":"UK calls for more chemical weapons powers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"UNImage copyright Reuters
Image caption Inspectors can currently establish only whether chemical weapons have been used, not who is responsible <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The UK risks fresh confrontation with Russia later when it asks for new powers for chemical weapons inspectors to assign blame for nerve agent attacks in Syria.<\/p>\n

Inspectors can currently establish only whether such weapons have been used.<\/p>\n

The UK foreign secretary will table the proposals, which are opposed by Moscow, at a special meeting of the chemical weapons watchdog (OPCW) at The Hague.<\/p>\n

The meeting also comes in the wake of a nerve agent attack in Salisbury, Wilts.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the OPCW meeting, which was been requested by the UK, Boris Johnson said the proposal was aimed at strengthening the ban on chemical weapons.<\/p>\n

He tweeted: "We propose the @OPCW begins attributing responsibility for chemical weapons attacks in Syria. We also want action to support states to address the chemical terrorism threat."<\/p>\n

Mr Johnson said the OPCW was "the right body to study who is behind an attack".<\/p>\n

Skip Twitter post by @BorisJohnson <\/p>\n

\n

With proven technical expertise on chemical weapons the @OPCW is the right body to study who is behind an attack. All States Parties have a voice and the opportunity to stand up for meaningful action to protect the Chemical Weapons Convention. #NotoChemicalWeapons<\/p>\n

\u2014 Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) June 13, 2018<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Report <\/p>\n

End of Twitter post by @BorisJohnson<\/p>\n

BBC diplomatic correspondent James Landale said British diplomats had launched a huge effort to win enough support to win a vote on the issue on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

But Russia opposed the plan, which might see its Syrian allies face further international condemnation, he added.<\/p>\n

Syrian opposition activists, rescue workers and medics say more than 40 people were killed in a suspected chemical attack on the Syrian city of Douma in April.<\/p>\n

France said it had "proof" that "chemical weapons were used - at least chlorine - and that they were used by Bashar al-Assad's regime".<\/p>\n

The Syrian government denied the allegation. And its key ally Russia said it had "irrefutable evidence" that the incident had been "staged" with the help of the UK.<\/p>\n

Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption The attempted murder of Sergei and Yulia Skripal on British soil led to accusations of Russian state involvement <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, the UK says Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter, who were found slumped on a park bench in Salisbury on 4 March, were exposed to a nerve agent belonging to the Novichok group.<\/p>\n

This analysis was backed by the international chemical weapons watchdog.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • How do you test for chemical weapons?<\/li>\n
  • Syria 'chemical attack': What we know<\/li>\n
  • Reality Check: Russian TV's claims about Salisbury attack<\/li>\n
  • What are Novichok nerve agents?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The attempted murder of the pair on British soil led to accusations of Russian state involvement. Russia has denied involvement in the attack.<\/p>\n

    Yulia Skripal left hospital a month after the attack, and her father was discharged a month later.<\/p>\n

    Alastair Hay, an expert on chemical weapons at Leeds University, said the UK was "absolutely right" to press for new powers.<\/p>\n

    "Whether it happens and whether there are sufficient votes that the UK can garner to support the move is still an open question really," he told the BBC.<\/p>\n

    "Of course you have the UK, the Unites States, France and many others who want the OPCW to have those powers.<\/p>\n

    "But there are others who are very concerned about it. And that includes Russia and some of its allies. So, it's divided and it's a question of how many allies the UK can muster."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Image copyright ReutersImage caption Inspectors can currently establish only whether chemical weapons have been used, not who is responsible The UK risks fresh confrontation with Russia later when it asks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}