15 UN Security Council members Saturday voted in favor of a resolution to require Syria to eliminate its arsenal of chemical weapons.
The deal breaks a two-and-a-half year deadlock in the UN over Syria. The vote came after the international chemical watchdog agreed on a plan to destroy Syria's chemical stockpile by mid-2014. Speaking after the vote in New York, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the decision as "historic" and urged the Syrian government to frankly and immediately implement the resolution.
The resolution has two key demands: that Syria abandons its chemical weapons stockpile and for weapons experts to be given unlimited access. Nor does the resolution attribute guilt for the 21 August attack.
The UN has set a target date for a Syrian new peace conference in mid-November.