Victory for Damascus: Syria hails arms deal

The Syrian government welcomes the agreement to disarm their chemical weapons but the US warns Syria that it will take action if it fails to live up to its promises.

As President Bashar al-Assad's warplanes and artillery hit rebel suburbs of the capital again on Sunday, minister Ali Haidar is said to have told Moscow's RIA news agency: "These agreements... are a victory for Syria, achieved thanks to our Russian friends.

"We welcome this agreement. From one point of view, it will help Syrians exit the crisis, from another, it has prevented a war against Syria, having taken away the pretext for one from those who wanted to unleash (it)."
It was not clear if the comments by Mr Haidar, who is not in President Assad's inner circle of decision-makers, reflects the president's views.


However, the minister is the first Syrian official to react to Saturday's deal struck in Geneva by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to agree to back a nine-month UN programme to destroy President Assad's chemical arsenal.

Russia has been President Assad's staunchest international ally, protecting him from three consecutive UN Security Council resolutions aimed at pressuring him to end a two-and-a-half-year conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people.

'Threat of force is real'

Despite the deal, the US have warned President Assad that the threat of force "is real" if it does not destroy its chemical weapons.

Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Mr Kerry said: "We cannot have hollow words in the conduct of international affairs."

Under the deal President Assad must account for his secret stockpile within a week and let international inspectors eliminate all the weapons by the middle of next year. Under the Geneva pact, the United States and Russia will back a UN enforcement mechanism.

On Saturday US President Barack Obama insisted on Sunday that the US "remains prepared to act" should diplomatic efforts fail.

He said: "The international community expects the Assad regime to live up to its public commitments. While we have made important progress, much more work remains to be done.

"The United States will continue working with Russia, the United Kingdom, France, the United Nations and others to ensure that this process is verifiable, and that there are consequences should the Assad regime not comply with the framework agreed.

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