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UN vote on inquiry into chemical weapons use in Syria

A UN worker inspects the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria
A UN worker inspects the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria

The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote today on rival US and Russian resolutions to renew an international inquiry into chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

The mandate for the joint inquiry by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which found the Syrian government used the banned nerve agent Sarin in a 4 April attack, expires at midnight.

Many children were among those killed and injured in the April attack

The US was first to ask for a vote on its draft resolution, followed quickly by Russia.

A resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes to be adopted.

Diplomats say there is little support among the 15-member council for the Russian draft.

Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has said it aims to correct "systemic errors" of the inquiry, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism.

While Russia agreed to the 2015 creation of the inquiry, it has consistently questioned its findings, which also concluded that the Syrian government used chlorine as a weapon several times.

A spokesman for the US mission to the United Nations said Russia had refused to engage in negotiations on the US draft resolution.

Diplomats said the United States had amended its draft in a bid to win Russian support.

"The United States hopes the Security Council will stand united in the face of chemical weapons use against civilians and extend the work of this critical group," the US mission to the United Nations said in a statement.

"Not doing so would only give consent to such atrocities while tragically failing the Syrian people who have suffered from these despicable acts," it said.

The Russian mission to the United Nations was not immediately available for comment on the impending council vote.

Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States.