Syria says it accepts Russian weapons proposal

LORI HINNANT, AP
1 hour ago

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem speaks to the media in Moscow, Mon...

PARIS (AP) — Syria has accepted a Russian proposal to place its chemical weapons under international control for dismantling, the Syrian foreign minister said Tuesday, amid a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at averting Western military action.

Speaking in Moscow, Walid al-Moallem said his government quickly agreed to the plan to "derail U.S. aggression" — an allusion to possible U.S.-led strikes over a deadly Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus that Western powers blame on the Syrian regime. Syrian President Bashar Assad has denied the claim.

Russia, Syria's most powerful ally, is now working with Damascus to prepare a detailed plan of action that will be presented soon, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. Russia will then be ready to finalize the plan with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

 

Al-Moallem brief statement sounded more definitive than his remarks a day earlier, when he said Damascus welcomed Russia's initiative. He did not provide any details about how Syria might comply.Read Story