1st LD: Security Council fails to adopt Russian-drafted resolution on OPCW probe of Syria chemical attack

UNITED NATIONS, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council on Tuesday failed to adopt a Russian-drafted resolution on an investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) into the alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria.

The vote came after two competing drafts on a broader investigative mechanism for chemical weapons use in Syria failed to pass the Security Council.

The third resolution related to the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria received only five votes in favor, failing to pass the threshold of nine. Four council members voted against it and six others abstained.

Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia expressed disappointment at the outcome, arguing that the Russian text was a "repetition" of a Swedish document that was circulated on Monday among council members.

Nebenzia blamed some council members for voting against the text, as he said, simply because it was a Russian draft.

Right before the vote on the Russian text, Swedish ambassador to the United Nations Olof Skoog requested a suspension of the Security Council meeting for extra consultations. The result of the vote shows that the closed-door consultations did not bring about consensus. Enditem