The United States is urging the UN Security Council to adopt a new resolution that would condemn the continuing use of chemical weapons in Syria "in the strongest terms" and establish a new body to determine responsibility for chemical attacks.
The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, singles out Sunday's attack on Douma in the Damascus suburbs, and expresses "outrage that individuals continue to be killed and injured by chemical weapons" in Syria and "determination that those responsible must be held accountable."
It was circulated ahead of an emergency Security Council meeting on the Douma attack.
The US and Russia have been lashing out at each other for months over the issue of accountability for chemical attacks in Syria, a close ally of Moscow.
Russia vetoed a Western-backed resolution in November that would have extended the mandate of the joint UN-Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons body that had blamed the Syrian government and the Islamic State extremist group for using chemical weapons.
The new proposed UN resolution includes rival Russian and Western proposals for a new body to assess blame.
Western nations objected to Russia's demand for the Security Council to have effective veto power over the findings of a new body.
The new US draft says the council "will thoroughly assess how to take action" on its conclusions, and reaffirms the council's previous decision to take action against violators under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which includes sanctions and can be enforced militarily.
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