Member countries of the global chemical weapons monitoring group voted in the Hague Wednesday to give the organization expanded authority to assign blame for toxic weapons attacks.

Members of the Organization for the Prohibition for Chemical Weapons voted 82 to 24, easily exceeding the two-thirds majority need for approval.

The proposal was presented by Britain and was supported by the United States and the European Union. It was opposed, however, by 24 countries including Russia, Syria and their allies.

British representative Peter Wilson said passage will allow the OPCW “not to just say when chemical weapons are used, but by whom.”

Before the vote, OPCW lacked the ability to say who was responsible for chemical attacks that had occurred in Syria and elsewhere.

The vote followed a diplomatic stalemate at the two-day meeting between Western allies and Russia and Syria.
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