Syria Confident U.N. Won't Adopt Chapter VII Resolution

Syria is confident the United Nations will not adopt a resolution on its chemical weapons under Chapter VII, which could allow the use of force, its deputy foreign minister said Wednesday.

"I think this is a big lie used by the Western powers; we believe it will never be used," Faisal Muqdad told Agence France Presse.

"There is no justification for that, and the Russian-American agreement does not have such a thing," he added, referring to the deal under which Syria has agreed to turn over its chemical weapons.

The comments come as envoys from the five permanent U.N. Security Council members struggle to draft a resolution on destroying Syria's chemical weapons.

France, Britain and the United States want compulsory measures under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter if Syria does not uphold the disarmament plan.

But Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, is firmly opposed to anything that could pave the way for use of force.

Syria agreed to turn over its weapons under an international deal thrashed out after the United States threatened military action against Damascus.

The threat followed an August 21 chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus that reportedly killed hundreds of people.

The Syrian opposition and much of the international community blamed the attack on the regime, which says that rebels were responsible.