Wednesday, September 11, 2013
TNA’s controversial manifesto calling for self-governance in a re-merged North-Eastern Province was just propaganda meant to draw voters
NPC polls: ‘Seventh Schedule negates core of TNA manifesto’
September 10, 2013, 9:39 pm
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The TNA’s controversial manifesto calling for self-governance in a re-merged North-Eastern Province was just propaganda meant to draw voters as all those contesting the first Northern PC polls, on the TNA ticket, had furnished a letter each to the Elections Secretariat reiterating their commitment to the unitary status of the country in accordance with the ‘Seventh Schedule’ of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, Election Department sources said.
The then President J. R. Jayewardene introduced the Sixth Amendment on August 8, 1983 in the wake of the outbreak of Eelam War I.
Elections Department officials said that the ‘Seventh Schedule’ was applicable to all elections, including the presidential.
Each contestant had to reaffirm that he/she will uphold and defend the Constitution and won’t directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate state within the territory of Sri Lanka.
Responding to a query by The Island, sources pointed out that the TNA had, like any other political party in the fray, furnished letters guaranteeing their allegiance to the Constitution. Against that background, the much publicised TNA’s manifesto became irrelevant. Those who had voiced grave concern over the TNA manifesto had conveniently forgotten that whatever MP R. Sampanthan’s party propagated, it too, was committed to unitary status.
The TNA’s commitment to the Sixth Amendment had made the manifesto irrelevant, sources said.
The Elections Secretariat recently rejected nominations of seven candidates of an Independent group, contesting from the Kilinochchi District, on the basis that the document bearing the ‘Seventh Schedule of the Constitution had not been properly signed by one candidate who had lost his index finger due to the war.
Three disabled war victims and four others who had their nominations to contest the Northern Provincial Council polls rejected, have complained to the Court of Appeal that the aforesaid rejection by the Returning Officer for Kilinochchi was mala fide and arbitrary.
The petitioners are K. Dharmalingam and six others from Kilinochchi District.
Additional Elections Commissioner U. Amaradasa told The Island that whatever the circumstances, all candidates would have to fulfil the obligations in accordance with the ‘Seventh Schedule.’
Calling for the re-merger of the Eastern Province with the Northern Province, the TNA declared that the devolution of power should be on the basis of shared sovereignty, necessarily over land, law and order, socio-economic development including health and education, resources and fiscal powers
The TNA said: "To achieve the above including self-reliance it is imperative that we need self-government. We have set out a two-stage constitutional process to secure this. Whilst we do our utmost to play a positive role in promoting self-government for the Tamil-speaking people in the North-East, we will carry on with our political negotiations for meaningful sharing of powers of governance. We cannot emphasise more the immediate necessity for a democratically elected body with legislative, executive and fiscal powers — to take over those functions of governance rightly belonging to us."
Responding to a query by The Island, Elections Chief Mahinda Deshapriya said that all political parties including the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) had to accept the ‘Seventh Schedule.’ Although the Northerners would be voting at provincial council polls for the first time on September 21, the ‘Seventh Schedule’ had applied to all elections for over two decades, Deshapriya said.
September 10, 2013, 9:39 pm
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The TNA’s controversial manifesto calling for self-governance in a re-merged North-Eastern Province was just propaganda meant to draw voters as all those contesting the first Northern PC polls, on the TNA ticket, had furnished a letter each to the Elections Secretariat reiterating their commitment to the unitary status of the country in accordance with the ‘Seventh Schedule’ of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, Election Department sources said.
The then President J. R. Jayewardene introduced the Sixth Amendment on August 8, 1983 in the wake of the outbreak of Eelam War I.
Elections Department officials said that the ‘Seventh Schedule’ was applicable to all elections, including the presidential.
Each contestant had to reaffirm that he/she will uphold and defend the Constitution and won’t directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate state within the territory of Sri Lanka.
Responding to a query by The Island, sources pointed out that the TNA had, like any other political party in the fray, furnished letters guaranteeing their allegiance to the Constitution. Against that background, the much publicised TNA’s manifesto became irrelevant. Those who had voiced grave concern over the TNA manifesto had conveniently forgotten that whatever MP R. Sampanthan’s party propagated, it too, was committed to unitary status.
The TNA’s commitment to the Sixth Amendment had made the manifesto irrelevant, sources said.
The Elections Secretariat recently rejected nominations of seven candidates of an Independent group, contesting from the Kilinochchi District, on the basis that the document bearing the ‘Seventh Schedule of the Constitution had not been properly signed by one candidate who had lost his index finger due to the war.
Three disabled war victims and four others who had their nominations to contest the Northern Provincial Council polls rejected, have complained to the Court of Appeal that the aforesaid rejection by the Returning Officer for Kilinochchi was mala fide and arbitrary.
The petitioners are K. Dharmalingam and six others from Kilinochchi District.
Additional Elections Commissioner U. Amaradasa told The Island that whatever the circumstances, all candidates would have to fulfil the obligations in accordance with the ‘Seventh Schedule.’
Calling for the re-merger of the Eastern Province with the Northern Province, the TNA declared that the devolution of power should be on the basis of shared sovereignty, necessarily over land, law and order, socio-economic development including health and education, resources and fiscal powers
The TNA said: "To achieve the above including self-reliance it is imperative that we need self-government. We have set out a two-stage constitutional process to secure this. Whilst we do our utmost to play a positive role in promoting self-government for the Tamil-speaking people in the North-East, we will carry on with our political negotiations for meaningful sharing of powers of governance. We cannot emphasise more the immediate necessity for a democratically elected body with legislative, executive and fiscal powers — to take over those functions of governance rightly belonging to us."
Responding to a query by The Island, Elections Chief Mahinda Deshapriya said that all political parties including the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) had to accept the ‘Seventh Schedule.’ Although the Northerners would be voting at provincial council polls for the first time on September 21, the ‘Seventh Schedule’ had applied to all elections for over two decades, Deshapriya said.
ஆண்ட பரம்பரை TNA இன் அடிமைத்தனமும், ஈழத்தமிழரை ஏமாற்றும் ஈனத்தனமும்!
Addition of Seventh Schedule to the Constitution
5. The Constitution is hereby amended by the addition, at the end thereof, of the following Schedule which shall have effect as the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution :-
” SEVENTH SCHEDULE
ARTICLE 157 A AND ARTICLE 161 (d) (iii)
i , …TNA… do solemnly declare and affirm swear that I will uphold and defend ‘the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and that I will not, directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.”
5. The Constitution is hereby amended by the addition, at the end thereof, of the following Schedule which shall have effect as the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution :-
” SEVENTH SCHEDULE
ARTICLE 157 A AND ARTICLE 161 (d) (iii)
i , …TNA… do solemnly declare and affirm swear that I will uphold and defend ‘the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and that I will not, directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.”
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
PFLP demands that Arab League reject subservience to Western aggression
PFLP demands that Arab League reject subservience to Western aggression
Sep 02 2013
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine demanded that Arab foreign ministers, meeting today at the Arab League headquarters in the Egyptian capital of Cairo today, show respect for the dignity of their people and their interests and end their subservience to foreign aggressive plans against the Arab peoples.
Today, U.S. and Western aggression against Syria and its people is threatened and the Arab League is sought to provide cover for the U.S. battleships who are preparing to fling death and destruction on the Syrian people and their homeland in a sea of destruction and bloodshed, under false slogans of democracy and human rights. These slogans are being employed to justify premeditated and criminal targeting along the lines of what happened in the lead-up to the war on Iraq, which continues to suffer due to killing, fragmentation and destruction.
The Front confirmed that it is part of the firm Palestinian consensus that rejects the threats and aggression of the U.S. and the West, warning that the policies of alliance of some Gulf countries, which recall the axis of the days of the Baghdad Pact, aim to provide cover for the schemes of the occupation and its strategic allies in building what they call the “Greater Middle East” on the ruins of the Arab nation as a central cause, while the so-called Jewish state rests atop a throne of qualitative military superiority and advantage.
Syria vows to give up chemical weapons
Syria vows to give up chemical weapons, Obama cautious about deal
(Reuters) - Syria accepted a Russian proposal on Tuesday to give up chemical weapons but U.S. President Barack Obama said it was too early to tell if the initiative would succeed and he vowed to keep U.S. military forces at the ready to strike if diplomacy fails.
In a televised address to Americans, Obama pledged to explore Russia's proposal for Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control, while expressing skepticism about the initiative.
He said he had asked the U.S. Congress to delay a vote on authorizing military action while Washington and its allies try to pass a United Nations resolution requiring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up the weapons in a verifiable way.
In a sign of how hard that will be, Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that the chemical weapons plan would only succeed if Washington and its allies rule out military action.
In what amounted to the most explicit, high-level admission by Syria that it has chemical weapons, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said in a statement shown on Russian state television that Damascus was committed to the Russian initiative.
"We want to join the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons. We are ready to observe our obligations in accordance with that convention, including providing all information about these weapons," Moualem said.
"We are ready to declare the location of the chemical weapons, stop production of the chemical weapons, and show these (production) facilities to representatives of Russia and other United Nations member states," he said.
Obama said there had been "encouraging signs" in recent days, in part because of the U.S. threat of military action to punish Syria for what Washington says was the use of poison gas to kill 1,400 civilians in Damascus on August 21.
"It is too early to tell whether this offer will succeed," Obama said. "And any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force."
Moscow has previously vetoed three U.N. Security Council resolutions that would have condemned the Syrian government over the conflict.
The latest proposal "can work only if we hear that the American side and all those who support the United States in this sense reject the use of force," Putin said in televised remarks.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress the threat of military action was critical to forcing Assad to bend on his chemical weapons.
"For this diplomatic option to have a chance of succeeding, the threat of a U.S. military action - the credible, real threat of U.S. military action - must continue," Hagel told the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.
U.S. officials said Kerry would meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Thursday for further talks.
Amid the whirlwind of diplomatic activity focused on the response to a suspected chemical weapons attack, the civil war resumed in earnest with Assad's jets again bombing rebel positions in the capital.
UNITED NATIONS
At the United Nations, Britain, France and the United States discussed elements of a draft Security Council resolution that a diplomat from one of the three countries said would include a timeline for Syria to declare the full extent of its poison gas arsenal and to cede control of it to the United Nations.
France said the resolution should be legally binding and state clearly that Syria would face "serious consequences" if it failed to comply with the resolution's demands - diplomatic code for military force.
The Security Council initially called a closed door meeting asked for by Russia to discuss its proposal to place Syria's chemical weapons under international control, but the meeting was later cancelled at Russia's request.
French officials said their draft resolution was designed to make sure the Russian proposal would have teeth, by allowing military action if Assad is uncooperative.
"It was extremely well played by the Russians, but we didn't want someone else to go to the U.N. with a resolution that was weak. This is on our terms and the principles are established. It puts Russia in a situation where they can't take a step back after putting a step forward," said a French diplomatic source.
Russia, however, has made clear it wanted to take the lead.
Lavrov told his French counterpart that Moscow would propose a U.N. draft declaration supporting its initiative to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Obama said he would work with allies as well as veto-wielding Security Council members Russia and China to craft a U.N. resolution requiring Assad to give up chemical weapons and ultimately destroy them under international supervision.
"Meanwhile, I've ordered our military to maintain their current posture to keep the pressure on Assad and to be in a position to respond if diplomacy fails," Obama said.
PUTIN: "NO THREAT OF FORCE"
The United States and France had been poised to launch missile strikes to punish Assad's forces, which they blame for the chemical weapons attack. Syria denies it was responsible and, with the backing of Moscow, blames rebels for staging the attacks to provoke U.S. intervention.
The White House said Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande had agreed in a telephone call on their preference for a diplomatic solution, but that they should continue to prepare for "a full range of responses."
While the prospects of a deal remain uncertain, the proposal could provide a way for Obama to avoid ordering unpopular action. Opinion polls show most Americans are opposed to military intervention in Syria, weary after more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Whether international inspectors can neutralize chemical weapons dumps while war rages in Syria remains open to question.
Western states believe Syria has a vast undeclared chemical arsenal. Sending inspectors to destroy it would be hard even in peace and extraordinarily complicated in the midst of a war.
The two main precedents are ominous: U.N. inspectors dismantled the chemical arsenal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in the 1990s but left enough doubt to provide the basis for a U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was rehabilitated by the West after agreeing to give up his banned weapons, only to be overthrown with NATO help in 2011.
SYRIAN REBELS DISMAYED
The Syrian war has already killed more than 100,000 people and driven millions from their homes. It threatens to spread violence across the Middle East, with countries endorsing the sectarian divisions that brought civil war to Lebanon and Iraq.
The wavering from the West dealt an unquestionable blow to the Syrian opposition, which had thought it had finally secured military intervention after pleading for two and a half years for help from Western leaders that vocally opposed Assad.
The rebel Syrian National Coalition decried a "political maneuver which will lead to pointless procrastination and will cause more death and destruction to the people of Syria."
Assad's warplanes bombed rebellious districts inside the Damascus city limits on Tuesday for the first time since the poison gas attacks. Rebels said the strikes demonstrated that the government had concluded the West had lost its nerve.
"By sending the planes back, the regime is sending the message that it no longer feels international pressure," activist Wasim al-Ahmad said from Mouadamiya, one of the districts of the capital hit by the chemical attack.
The Russian proposal "is a cheap trick to buy time for the regime to kill more and more people," said Sami, a member of the local opposition coordinating committee in the Damascus suburb of Erbin, also hit by last month's chemical attack.
Troops and pro-Assad militiamen tried to seize the northern district of Barzeh and the eastern suburb of Deir Salman near Damascus airport, working-class Sunni Muslim areas where opposition activists and residents reported street fighting.
Fighter jets bombed Barzeh three times and pro-Assad militia backed by army tank fire made a push into the area. Air raids were also reported on the Western outskirts near Mouadamiya.
But Damascenes in pro-Assad areas were grateful for a reprieve from Western strikes: "Russia is the voice of reason. They know that if a strike went ahead against Syria, then World War Three - even Armageddon - would befall Europe and America," said Salwa, a Shi'ite Muslim in the affluent Malki district.
(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris, Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations, Thomas Grove and Steve Gutterman in Moscow and Steve Holland, Jeff Mason, Mark Felsenthal, Patricia Zengerle, Arshad Mohammed, Richard Cowan, Paul Eckert and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Writing by Claudia Parsons; Editing by Jim Loney and Christopher Wilson)
(Reuters) - Syria accepted a Russian proposal on Tuesday to give up chemical weapons but U.S. President Barack Obama said it was too early to tell if the initiative would succeed and he vowed to keep U.S. military forces at the ready to strike if diplomacy fails.
In a televised address to Americans, Obama pledged to explore Russia's proposal for Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control, while expressing skepticism about the initiative.
He said he had asked the U.S. Congress to delay a vote on authorizing military action while Washington and its allies try to pass a United Nations resolution requiring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up the weapons in a verifiable way.
In a sign of how hard that will be, Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that the chemical weapons plan would only succeed if Washington and its allies rule out military action.
In what amounted to the most explicit, high-level admission by Syria that it has chemical weapons, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said in a statement shown on Russian state television that Damascus was committed to the Russian initiative.
"We want to join the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons. We are ready to observe our obligations in accordance with that convention, including providing all information about these weapons," Moualem said.
"We are ready to declare the location of the chemical weapons, stop production of the chemical weapons, and show these (production) facilities to representatives of Russia and other United Nations member states," he said.
Obama said there had been "encouraging signs" in recent days, in part because of the U.S. threat of military action to punish Syria for what Washington says was the use of poison gas to kill 1,400 civilians in Damascus on August 21.
"It is too early to tell whether this offer will succeed," Obama said. "And any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force."
Moscow has previously vetoed three U.N. Security Council resolutions that would have condemned the Syrian government over the conflict.
The latest proposal "can work only if we hear that the American side and all those who support the United States in this sense reject the use of force," Putin said in televised remarks.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress the threat of military action was critical to forcing Assad to bend on his chemical weapons.
"For this diplomatic option to have a chance of succeeding, the threat of a U.S. military action - the credible, real threat of U.S. military action - must continue," Hagel told the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.
U.S. officials said Kerry would meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Thursday for further talks.
Amid the whirlwind of diplomatic activity focused on the response to a suspected chemical weapons attack, the civil war resumed in earnest with Assad's jets again bombing rebel positions in the capital.
UNITED NATIONS
At the United Nations, Britain, France and the United States discussed elements of a draft Security Council resolution that a diplomat from one of the three countries said would include a timeline for Syria to declare the full extent of its poison gas arsenal and to cede control of it to the United Nations.
France said the resolution should be legally binding and state clearly that Syria would face "serious consequences" if it failed to comply with the resolution's demands - diplomatic code for military force.
The Security Council initially called a closed door meeting asked for by Russia to discuss its proposal to place Syria's chemical weapons under international control, but the meeting was later cancelled at Russia's request.
French officials said their draft resolution was designed to make sure the Russian proposal would have teeth, by allowing military action if Assad is uncooperative.
"It was extremely well played by the Russians, but we didn't want someone else to go to the U.N. with a resolution that was weak. This is on our terms and the principles are established. It puts Russia in a situation where they can't take a step back after putting a step forward," said a French diplomatic source.
Russia, however, has made clear it wanted to take the lead.
Lavrov told his French counterpart that Moscow would propose a U.N. draft declaration supporting its initiative to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Obama said he would work with allies as well as veto-wielding Security Council members Russia and China to craft a U.N. resolution requiring Assad to give up chemical weapons and ultimately destroy them under international supervision.
"Meanwhile, I've ordered our military to maintain their current posture to keep the pressure on Assad and to be in a position to respond if diplomacy fails," Obama said.
PUTIN: "NO THREAT OF FORCE"
The United States and France had been poised to launch missile strikes to punish Assad's forces, which they blame for the chemical weapons attack. Syria denies it was responsible and, with the backing of Moscow, blames rebels for staging the attacks to provoke U.S. intervention.
The White House said Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande had agreed in a telephone call on their preference for a diplomatic solution, but that they should continue to prepare for "a full range of responses."
While the prospects of a deal remain uncertain, the proposal could provide a way for Obama to avoid ordering unpopular action. Opinion polls show most Americans are opposed to military intervention in Syria, weary after more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Whether international inspectors can neutralize chemical weapons dumps while war rages in Syria remains open to question.
Western states believe Syria has a vast undeclared chemical arsenal. Sending inspectors to destroy it would be hard even in peace and extraordinarily complicated in the midst of a war.
The two main precedents are ominous: U.N. inspectors dismantled the chemical arsenal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in the 1990s but left enough doubt to provide the basis for a U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was rehabilitated by the West after agreeing to give up his banned weapons, only to be overthrown with NATO help in 2011.
SYRIAN REBELS DISMAYED
The Syrian war has already killed more than 100,000 people and driven millions from their homes. It threatens to spread violence across the Middle East, with countries endorsing the sectarian divisions that brought civil war to Lebanon and Iraq.
The wavering from the West dealt an unquestionable blow to the Syrian opposition, which had thought it had finally secured military intervention after pleading for two and a half years for help from Western leaders that vocally opposed Assad.
The rebel Syrian National Coalition decried a "political maneuver which will lead to pointless procrastination and will cause more death and destruction to the people of Syria."
Assad's warplanes bombed rebellious districts inside the Damascus city limits on Tuesday for the first time since the poison gas attacks. Rebels said the strikes demonstrated that the government had concluded the West had lost its nerve.
"By sending the planes back, the regime is sending the message that it no longer feels international pressure," activist Wasim al-Ahmad said from Mouadamiya, one of the districts of the capital hit by the chemical attack.
The Russian proposal "is a cheap trick to buy time for the regime to kill more and more people," said Sami, a member of the local opposition coordinating committee in the Damascus suburb of Erbin, also hit by last month's chemical attack.
Troops and pro-Assad militiamen tried to seize the northern district of Barzeh and the eastern suburb of Deir Salman near Damascus airport, working-class Sunni Muslim areas where opposition activists and residents reported street fighting.
Fighter jets bombed Barzeh three times and pro-Assad militia backed by army tank fire made a push into the area. Air raids were also reported on the Western outskirts near Mouadamiya.
But Damascenes in pro-Assad areas were grateful for a reprieve from Western strikes: "Russia is the voice of reason. They know that if a strike went ahead against Syria, then World War Three - even Armageddon - would befall Europe and America," said Salwa, a Shi'ite Muslim in the affluent Malki district.
(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris, Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations, Thomas Grove and Steve Gutterman in Moscow and Steve Holland, Jeff Mason, Mark Felsenthal, Patricia Zengerle, Arshad Mohammed, Richard Cowan, Paul Eckert and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Writing by Claudia Parsons; Editing by Jim Loney and Christopher Wilson)
India supports Russia’s Syria plan
India supports Russia’s Syria plan
The HINDU
India has supported the Russian proposal to keep Syrian stockpiles of chemical weapons in safe custody while pointing out that its two main postulates — no to military intervention and move toward a political settlement, possibly with a Geneva-II conference — remained unchanged.
In its standard formulation, India said it would prefer acknowledged chemical weapons stockpiles to be destroyed and, pending their elimination, to be kept in safe custody.
“If there are any proposals which are moving in this direction, then obviously India will see it as a positive development,” said spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry Syed Akbaruddin on Tuesday.
The Indian stand has been spelt out in considerable detail over the past few days. First by the Foreign Office a week back when it categorically ruling out a military solution to the conflict and supported the move to hold an international conference on Syria (Geneva-II) involving the Syrian government and various opposition factions.
At a time when the threat of a U.S.-led military strike was at its height, the Foreign Office counselled patience till the U.N. inspectors had submitted their report. The U.N. team was in Damascus on a Syrian government request to probe a chemicals weapons attack, allegedly by the rebels, earlier this year.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reiterated this formulation during a dinner on September 5 at the St Petersburg G-20 summit. India was not in favour of armed action aimed at regime change as this would be violation of international law. And action, if necessary, should be authorised by the U.N. Security Council, he said joining his voice with Presidents of Russia, China, Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa in speaking against military action not authorised by the U.N. Security Council.
Threat of U.S. Syria attack eases as crisis moves to U.N.
Threat of U.S. Syria attack eases as crisis moves to U.N.
(Reuters) - Syria accepted a Russian proposal on Tuesday to give up chemical weapons and win a reprieve from U.S. military strikes, and major western powers began working on a United Nations resolution to create a timetable and process for ensuring it happens.
Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halki accepted the Russian proposal "to spare Syrian blood," state television reported.
The United States and its allies remained skeptical and President Barack Obama sought to keep the pressure on Syria by maintaining his drive for congressional backing for a possible military strike while exploring a diplomatic alternative.
Amid the whirlwind of diplomatic activity focused on the response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a Damascus neighborhood on August 21, the civil war resumed in earnest, President Bashar al-Assad's jets again bombing rebel positions in the capital.
France wants a binding U.N. Security Council resolution that would provide a framework for controlling and eliminating the weapons and says that Syria would face "extremely serious" consequences if it violated the conditions.
Britain and the United States said they would work on quickly formulating a resolution.
The U.N. Security Council initially called a closed door meeting asked for by Russia to discuss its proposal to place Syria's chemical weapons under international control, but the meeting was later canceled at Russia's request.
Moscow, which has previously vetoed three resolutions that would have condemned the Syrian government over the conflict, appeared strongly opposed to the continuation of any military threats to Damascus, as advocated by Washington.
PUTIN: "NO THREAT OF FORCE"
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in televised remarks that the initiative to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control would not succeed unless the United States and its allies reject the use of force against Damascus.
The United States appeared unmoved. "For this diplomatic option to have a chance of succeeding, the threat of a U.S. military action ... must continue," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the House Armed Services Committee.
The United States and France had been poised to launch missile strikes to punish Assad's forces, which they blame for the chemical weapons attack. Syria denies it was responsible.
The White House said Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande had agreed in a telephone call on their preference for a diplomatic solution, but that they should continue to prepare for "a full range of responses."
Obama was due to meet Senate Democrats and Republicans to present his case for approving a potential military strike. Secretary of State John Kerry also spelled out the argument in a House hearing and was due to talk by telephone with Lavrov later in the day.
The White House said Obama, who has called the Russian proposal a potential breakthrough, would still push for a vote in Congress to authorize force when he makes a televised address to Americans later on Tuesday.
But the U.S. congressional vote now appeared more about providing a hypothetical threat to back up diplomacy, rather than to unleash immediate missile strikes. A bipartisan group of senior members of Congress was working on a resolution that would take into account the Russian proposal.
Whether international inspectors can neutralize chemical weapons dumps while war rages in Syria remains open to question.
SYRIAN REBELS DISMAYED
Syria's rebels reacted with deep dismay to the Russian proposal, saying it had already emboldened Assad to launch a deadly new offensive and meant that last month's gas attacks would go unpunished.
The proposal provides a way out for Obama to avoid ordering action that is unpopular with Americans, weary after more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and with Congress.
Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, visiting Moscow, as saying Damascus had agreed to the Russian initiative because it would "remove the grounds for American aggression".
Assad's warplanes bombed rebellious districts inside the Damascus city limits on Tuesday for the first time since the poison gas attacks. Rebels said the strikes demonstrated that the government had concluded the West had lost its nerve.
"By sending the planes back, the regime is sending the message that it no longer feels international pressure," activist Wasim al-Ahmad said from Mouadamiya, one of the districts of the capital hit by the chemical attack.
The war has already killed more than 100,000 people and driven millions from their homes. It threatens to spread violence across the Middle East, with countries endorsing the sectarian divisions that brought civil war to Lebanon and Iraq.
The Russian proposal "is a cheap trick to buy time for the regime to kill more and more people," said Sami, a member of the local opposition coordinating committee in the Damascus suburb of Erbin, also hit by last month's chemical attack.
But Damascenes in pro-Assad areas were grateful for a reprieve from Western strikes: "Russia is the voice of reason. They know that if a strike went ahead against Syria, then World War Three - even Armageddon - would befall Europe and America," said Salwa, a Shi'ite Muslim in the affluent Malki district.
French officials said their draft U.N. resolution was designed to make sure the Russian proposal would have teeth, by allowing military action if Assad is uncooperative.
"It was extremely well played by the Russians, but we didn't want someone else to go to the U.N. with a resolution that was weak. This is on our terms and the principles are established. It puts Russia in a situation where they can't take a step back after putting a step forward," said a French diplomatic source.
The White House portrayed the deal as a success that vindicated Obama's firm stance.
"We see this as potentially a positive development and we see this as a clear result of the pressure that has been put on Syria," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT
The White House and the Kremlin both said the Russian proposal was not entirely new and that Obama and Putin had discussed the principles behind it in the past. Putin's spokesman said it came up at a summit last week.
With veto-wielding China also backing it, it would be the rare Syria initiative to unite global powers whose divisions have so far blocked Security Council action. Assad's main regional backer, Iran, has also signaled support, as has U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Gulf Arab states which support the rebels were skeptical, however: "It's all about chemical weapons but doesn't stop the spilling of the blood of the Syrian people," said Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa.
Syria is not a party to international treaties which ban the stockpiling of chemical weapons but is bound by the Geneva conventions that forbid using them in war. Syria has not said whether it possesses poison gas, while denying it has used it.
Western states believe Syria has a vast undeclared chemical arsenal. Sending inspectors to destroy it would be hard even in peace and extraordinarily complicated in the midst of a war.
The two main precedents are ominous: U.N. inspectors dismantled the chemical arsenal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in the 1990s but left enough doubt to provide the basis for a U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was rehabilitated by the West after agreeing to give up his banned weapons, only to be overthrown with NATO help in 2011.
Assad's government says last month's chemical attack was the work of rebels trying to win Western military support, a scenario Washington and its allies say is not credible.
Human Rights Watch, the New York-based watchdog, said evidence strongly suggested Syrian government forces were to blame because the attack used rockets and launchers in the possession only of government forces.
(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Writing by Peter Graff and David Storey; Editing by Jim Loney)
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