Syrian envoy hails UNSC resolution

Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, said the UN Security Council resolution on Syria's chemical weapons addressed the concerns of the Damascus government.

Jaafari made the remarks in New York during a press conference after the Security Council voted unanimously to adopt a resolution aimed at ridding war-torn Syria of chemical weapons, Xinhua reported Saturday citing the state-run SANA news agency.

Jaafari called on all countries that fund and arm the rebels in Syria to stop doing so, specifically naming Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France, Qatar and the US to commit themselves to the UNSC resolution.

He also said the Syrian government was "totally committed" to the international conference likely to be held in November in Geneva to craft a political solution to the longstanding crisis in the strife-torn country.

The UNSC vote came Friday after the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), an international chemical weapons watchdog, agreed on a plan to destroy Syria's stockpile by mid-2014.

"The Security Council decides that the Syrian Arab Republic shall not use, develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile or retain chemical weapons, or transfer, directly or indirectly, chemical weapons to other States or non-State actors," the resolution said.

The resolution condemned the use of chemical weapons, but also did not attribute blame, stating that the Security Council "is deeply outraged" by the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict and that "the use of chemical weapons anywhere constitutes a threat to international peace and security".

Speaking at the Security Council shortly after the vote, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hailed the new resolution, saying: "Today's historic resolution is the first hopeful news on Syria in a long time."