UNITED NATIONS – The United States and Russia clashed at the UN SecurityCouncil on Monday over a push by Washington to condemn reported chlorinegas attacks in Syria that have left many injured in recent days, includingchildren.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council that there was “obvious evidencefrom dozens of victims” to corroborate the chlorine attacks in rebel-heldEastern Ghouta.

“Now we have reports that the Assad regime has used chlorine gas againstits people multiple times in recent weeks, including just yesterday,” Haleysaid.

The United States proposed that the council adopt a statement condemning”in the strongest terms” the reported February 1 chlorine attack in thetown of Douma that injured more than 20 civilians including children,according to the draft seen by AFP.

Russia hit back and accused the United States of waging a “propagandacampaign” aimed at falsely blaming President Bashar al-Assad for chemicalattacks.

“It s completely clear to us the goal is to basically accuse the Syriangovernment of chemical weapons use where no perpetrators have beenidentified,” said Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia.

Russia proposed an amended draft statement that made no mention of theattacks in Eastern Ghouta and stressed that the reports should be “crediblyand professionally investigated,” according to the text seen by AFP.

The United States rejected the changes and no statement was adopted,diplomats said.

Haley slammed Russia for balking at a statement that she described as a”simple condemnation of Syrian children being suffocated by chlorine gas.”

The US-drafted statement expressed grave concern over three reportedchlorine attacks in Eastern Ghouta in recent weeks and asserted that thoseresponsible for using chemical weapons must be held accountable.

The Russian ambassador said that while Moscow was ready to condemn chemicalweapons use, it could not support the draft statement “in its current form”because it pointed the finger of guilt to Damascus.

The US State Department said it was the sixth such attack in the past 30days in Syria.

“By shielding the Syrian regime from accountability, Russia has not livedup to its commitments,” spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

“The use of chemical weapons by all parties in Syria must unequivocallystop. The people of Syria are suffering; the rest of the world is watching.”

The council met to discuss chemical weapons use in Syria after Russia usedits veto power twice in November to block the renewal of a UN investigativepanel tasked with identifying those responsible for the deadly gas attacks.

Last month, Russia put forward a draft resolution to establish a newinvestigation, but Western diplomats have raised questions about theimpartiality of the proposed panel.

“This is not an impartial mechanism. It is a way to whitewash the findingsof the latest investigation that Russia desperately wants to bury,” Haleytold the council.

The previous probe, vetoed by Russia, had found that Syrian forces wereresponsible for the April 2016 sarin attack on the rebel-held town of KhanSheikhun, that killed scores of people.

The panel, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), also foundthat Assad s forces used chlorine in attacks on rebel-held villages in 2014and 2015.

It also found that Islamic State group (IS) jihadists had used mustard gasin 2015. – AFP