Kerry says UN should act on Syria next week

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sept. 19 it was essential that a Russia-U.S. deal on eradicating Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal be enforced and that the U.N. Security Council must act on it next week.

“The Security Council must be prepared to act next week,” Kerry told reporters. “It is vital for the international community to stand up and speak out in the strongest possible terms about the importance of enforcible action to rid the world of Syria’s chemical weapons.”

Envoys from the five big U.N. powers are meeting in New York before the U.N. General Assembly next week to discuss a plan to place Syrian chemical weapons under international control.

Russia and the United States brokered the deal last week to avoid possible U.S. military strikes. Under the deal, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would account for his chemical weapons within a week and see them destroyed by the middle of next year.