Strike against Syria requires UN backing: Chilean president

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SANTIAGO, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chile's President Sebastian Pinera said Thursday that a military strike against Syria required the backing of the United Nations Security Council.

"I want to say that the Chilean government believes that any military action in Syria must be within the context of the multinational institutional structure that we have at the United Nations and the Security Council, and not by a unilateral decision of a single or a group of countries," Pinera told a press conference in the presidential palace of La Moneda.

U.S. President Barack Obama has been seeking congressional support for a punitive strike against Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons, even at a time when the United Nations awaits a report on the Syrian incident from its team of chemicals experts.

"We are waiting to hear the report of UN experts sent to Syria, so that it can be heard by all the countries in the international community, and also by the Security Council, and the respective decisions can be adopted there," he said.

On the purported use of chemical weapons in Syria, Pinera said the government of Chile strongly condemned the abuse of its people in Syria, especially if chemical attacks were proved true.

On Wednesday, the Chilean Senate issued a "strong" condemnation of the alleged chemical attacks, saying chemical warfare constitutes a "crime against humanity," but lawmakers rejected unilateral intervention in the Middle Eastern country.

The Senate "rejects any unilateral military intervention undertaken outside the multilateral legal structure headed by the United Nations, through its Security Council."

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday approved a bipartisan resolution for a limited military strike against Syria, paving the way for a full Senate vote.

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