JEDDAH – The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said on Tuesday that a Russian proposal to place Syria's chemical weapons under international control with the aim of averting a US strike would not end the bloodshed in Syria. The Russian proposal, accepted by Damascus, aims to prevent the United States launching an attack on Syria to punish it for a chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of civilians. “We've heard of the initiative,” Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa told a news conference after the meeting of the Ministerial Council of the GCC Ministers of Foreign Affairs here. “It's all about chemical weapons, but doesn't stop the spilling of the blood of the Syrian people.” In an address at the start of the meeting, Khalifa called for “appropriate deterrent measures against those who committed this crime” and said the chemical attack required “the United Nations and the international community, represented by the Security Council, to shoulder its responsibility.” In a statement issued at the end of their meeting, the GCC foreign ministers appealed to the UN Security Council to act quickly to protect the Syrian people and extend support for self-defense. The ministers voiced serious concern over the worsening of the Syrian crisis and its impact on the region's security and stability. They called for international deterrent action to stop the killing of the Syrian people. The ministerial council slammed involvement of foreign forces, mainly Hezbollah militia, in the conflict. In Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the Obama administration was waiting to see the Russian proposal to put Syria's chemical weapons stock under international control, but will not wait for long. While everyone was hopeful the move could be “a real solution to the crisis,” said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, he warned the threat of “credible, real” US military action had to remain on the table. Kerry said Syria had about “1,000 metric tons of numerous chemical weapons” including components for mustard and sarin gas, some of which was unmixed, and some of which was stored in tanks. Yesterday, we challenged the regime to turn them over to the secure control of the international community so that they could be destroyed,” he told lawmakers. Such a move “would be the ultimate way to degrade and deter” the arsenal held by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, he told the House Armed Services Committee. US experts were already working on how to carry out such an “exceedingly difficult” task, he said, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov mulls a proposal on reining in Syria's chemical weapons. “We're waiting for that proposal. But we're not waiting for long,” Kerry said. “We must be very clear-eyed and ensure that it is not a stalling tactic by Syria and its Russian patrons,” Hagel said of the Russian proposal. “The threat of a US military action, the credible, real threat of US military action, must continue as we are talking today,” he insisted. Meanwhile, a group of US senators was crafting a new measure on Tuesday that ties authorization for a military strike on Syria to action by the United Nations. The lawmakers, including allies and foes of President Barack Obama, were drafting language that would alter a resolution currently under debate which would green-light limited US strikes to punish Assad's regime for its use of chemical weapons. – Agencies
