US SENATE POSTPONES VOTE ON SYRIA MILITARY STRIKE

     Washington, 6 Zul-qaadah 1434/10 September 2013 (MINA) – The US Senate has postponed a procedural vote, originally scheduled for September 11, on a proposal to authorize the use of military force in strikes against the regime of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria.

     “What we need to do is make sure the president has the opportunity to speak to all 100 senators and all 300 million American people before we do this,” Senate Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid expressed in his statement on the issue.

    Reid noted that what was important was how well the vote was embarked upon, rather than how quickly, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

   Some Senators have expressed their views on Obama’s request for authorization, with Bob Menendez and Dick Durbin grabbing attention with the speeches they made in front of huge photographs of Syrian victims killed in the August 21 chemical gas attack which killed over 1,400 people in Damascus suburbs.

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   The Obama administration had organized a closed session following the reconvening of Congress with the members of the intelligence and armed services committees of the House of Representatives. Another closed session is scheduled for all the members of the House of Representatives.

     But, in interviews with six US networks, Obama has said he will consider a “potentially positive” Russian offer for Syria to give up its chemical weapons.

     Previous, the US adminsitration at first stated that Kerry’s response was only rhetorical, but within hours the president was using interviews with six US networks to say that a diplomatic solution should be sought.

     That Kerry’s statement an answer that was then presented by Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, as a workable plan.

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     Obama told CNN that the Russian plan was “a potentially positive development”, and NBC that it could be a “significant breakthrough”.

    Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said he too welcomed Russia’s proposals and called for the creation of UN-supervised zones in Syria where chemical weapons could be destroyed. (T/P09/E1).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

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