U.S. keeps military threat open as UN receives report on Syrian chemical weapons

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U.S. keeps military threat open as UN receives report on Syrian chemical weapons

(Xinhua) 15:11, September 16, 2013

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BEIJING, Sept. 16 -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday warned that the threat of force remains real despite the framework agreement with Russia on disposing of Syria's chemical weapons.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has received the report from the UN team of experts probing the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, and is set to brief the Security Council on Monday.

Kerry's remarks came as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his one-day visit to Jerusalem to brief Israel on the U.S.-Russia deal signed Saturday.

Reassuring Netanyahu that the deal can fully remove Syria's chemical weapons, Kerry said President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to submit a list of his country's chemical weapons within a week.

Syria, said Netanyahu, "must be stripped of all its chemical weapons, and that would make our entire region a lot safer."

In Damascus, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi stressed his country's commitment to removing its chemical arsenal.

Noting that the Syrian government has started preparing the list, al-Zoubi said Syria will implement the deal "when it becomes more tangible" in light of a UN Security Council resolution.

Moreover, the minister said his country would facilitate the mission of chemical-weapons inspectors expected to enter Syria before November.

For his part, Jordanian King Abdullah II, currently in China, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the conflict in Syria has reached an unprecedented point.

"We have long warned that a prolonged conflict in Syria would deepen violence and extremism, increase the chances of chemical weapons falling into the wrong hands, and turn the conflict into a regional one with sectarian dimensions," he said.

Jordan, he stressed, "will exert all efforts to reach an Arab and international consensus over a comprehensive political solution to the Syria crisis, which will bring an end to the threat of chemical weapons, fighting and violence."

In the United Nations, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said in a note that the report by the UN inspection team has been turned over to the secretary-general, who will brief the Security Council during its closed consultations Monday morning.

Following his briefing, Ban will speak to reporters at around 12:50 p.m. EDT (1650 GMT) Monday. The text of the report will be made available on Monday morning on the website of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs.

Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande said Sunday in a televised interview that a UN resolution on Syria could take place by the end of next week.

A meeting of French, U.S. and British foreign ministers was scheduled on Monday to discuss the implementation.

Hollande described the U.S.-Russia deal as an "important step" rather than "an end point," and said the resolution must include the possibility of sanctions if Syria does not comply.

"The military option must remain; otherwise there will be no pressure," he said.

After three days of intense negotiations, Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, reached agreement Saturday on a framework to secure and destroy Syria's chemical weapons by mid-2014.

Syria must submit a "comprehensive listing" of its chemical weapons stockpiles within a week, and weapons inspectors must be on the ground in Syria by November.