UN Security Council 'paralyzed' on new Syria probe

Russia and US vote down each other's resolutions over chemical weapons use

The United Nationals Security Council remained "paralyzed" on investigating the recent alleged chemical weapons use in Syria with Russia and the United States continuing to shoot down each other's proposals on Tuesday.

Russia vetoed a US-drafted resolution on investigating reports of the recent chemical attack in Douma, a town located northeast of Syrian capital Damascus.

While 12 of the 15 members of the Security Council voted in favor of the US text, Russia and Bolivia voted against it and China abstained. The draft failed to be adopted as Russia has veto power.

Before the vote, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said her delegation had tried hard to incorporate the Russian proposals into the draft so long as they did not compromise the impartiality of the investigation.

She said the US text was "the bare minimum" that the Security Council could do to respond to the attack.

Russia tabled a draft resolution of its own for the same purpose but that too was rejected.

Haley said the main difference between the two texts was that Russia wanted to choose the investigators and assess the outcome while the US text was for a truly independent investigation.

Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, who spoke after Haley, argued that the US draft prejudges the outcome of the investigation.

"Why do you need the mechanism, what do you need it for, when you have already appointed the guilty party before the investigation," he asked.