28.09 UN Security Council Passes Syria Resolution

MOSCOW, September 28 (RIA Novosti) � The UN Security Council passed the draft resolution on Syria on Saturday, Moscow time, imposing binding obligations on the Syrian government for the first time since the unrest began in March 2011.

It was the first time the council formally endorsed a plan for a political transition in Syria under agreements reached the June 2012 international conference in Geneva.

Until recently, any Security Council decision-making on Syria was paralyzed by Russia and China blocked US-led efforts to win the UN backing for a military intervention. The two veto-wielding members blocked three UN Security Council resolutions on Syria since October 2011.

The Security Council vote was put into question earlier in the day, when the executive council of the world's chemical watchdog, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), halted its session to approve a key plan to eliminate Syria's chemical stockpile.

The blueprint was to be incorporated in the UN Syria resolution.

OPCW spokesman Michael Luhan said one of the delegations to the talks took a pause waiting for a final response from its capital.

The talks, however, resumed at approximately 2:30 Moscow time [22:30 GMT]. The plan was passed shortly after and entered force immediately.

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