LONDON // Britain said it will put forward a resolution today to the UN Security Council condemning the Syrian government for the alleged chemical attack that has killed hundreds of civilians.
A statement from Prime Minister David Cameron's office said Britain would seek a measure "authorising necessary measures to protect civilians" in Syria under Chapter 7 of the UN charter. Military force is one of the options that can be authorised under that section.
The resolution will be presented to the UN Security Council in New York today, officials said.
In the past, Russia — a permanent member of the UN Security Council — has opposed actions against Syria, a longtime ally.
The decision to seek UN backing came as momentum appeared to build for Western military action against Syria, with the US and France saying they are in position for a military strike.
Cameron has called the British Parliament back into an emergency session tomorrow for a debate on Syria and a vote, which is expected to endorse or reject possible military reprisals against the Syrian government.
Some British politicians have questioned whether a military strike would be legal under international law unless it is backed by the UN Security Council. Britain's opposition Labour Party had indicated a desire for UN support in advance of the debate and vote.
The prospect of a US-led intervention into Syria's civil war stems from the West's assertion - still not endorsed by UN inspectors - that President Al Bashar Assad's government was responsible for an alleged chemical attack on civilians outside Damascus on August 21, which Assad denies.
Doctors Without Borders said that attack killed 355 people.
A UN inspection team reported today that evidence suggests that some kind of chemical "substance" was used.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Tales of Yusuf Tadros
Adel Esmat (translated by Mandy McClure)
Hoopoe
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
