UN calls emergency meeting on Syria after Trump threat
The United Nations has urged world powers not to let the crisis over alleged chemical attacks on civilians in Syria "get out of control".
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| United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Photo: UNPhoto. |
"Today, I have summoned the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the Security Council to reaffirm my deep concern about the dangers of the current stalemate and to stress the need to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control,"AFPquoted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as saying, referring to the US, Russia, China, France and Britain.
Moscow and Washington have so far vetoed each other's draft resolutions calling for an international investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government against civilians, killing 70 people on April 7.
The meeting comes after US President Donald Trump threatened "missiles are coming" at Syria in a tweet.
Amid the possibility of imminent US military action, Britain has scheduled an emergency cabinet meeting. Russia has denied accusations against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and according to a monitoring group, Syrian government forces have evacuated several defense buildings in Damascus.
Mr Trump's statement came in response to a warning from the Russian ambassador to Lebanon, who appeared on a television channel run by the militant group Hezbollah to say any US missiles fired at Syria would be shot down.
