Top U.S. envoy warns of chemical weapons scourge

U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley warned Wednesday that the UN’s failure to hold Syria accountable for its use of chemical weapons because of Russia’s opposition has made the world “a far more dangerous place.”

She told the Security Council that its lack of action on Syria has led others to take notice, pointing to the use of nerve agents against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half-brother in Malaysia and the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter in England.

“This reveals a dangerous trend,” she said, urging a renewed commitment by the Security Council to end the use of chemical weapons in Syria and elsewhere in the world.

The council met on the first anniversary of a chemical attack using sarin nerve gas on the Syrian rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed about 100 people.

In a joint statement marking Wednesday’s anniversary, the U.S., Britain, France and Germany criticized Russia for vetoing the extension of the expert body from the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons that blamed the Syrian government for four chemical weapons attacks including Khan Sheikhoun.

The four countries condemned the use of chemical weapons anywhere.

Haley brought Syrian Dr. Mamoun Morad to the council meeting, saying he was one of the only doctors on duty in Khan Sheikhoun on April 4, 2017.

She quoted his words on the attack: “It was like Judgment Day, the Apocalypse. You just can’t even describe the scene, can’t even begin to scratch the surface ... We didn’t have any protective equipment for gas.”