Moscow shows Syria chemical arms plan to Washington: Report

Iran Press TV

Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:34PM GMT

Russia has reportedly shown the US its famous plan to place Syria's chemical weapons under international control, ahead of a meeting between senior Russian and American diplomats in Geneva.

"We handed over to the Americans a plan to place chemical weapons in Syria under international control. We expect to discuss it in Geneva," Russian news agencies quoted a source in Russia's delegation to the talks as saying on Wednesday.

No further details have been disclosed about the plan.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry are set to discuss on Thursday the plan which will lead to the obliteration of Syrian chemical weapons.

Meanwhile, state news agency ITAR-TASS quoted an unnamed Geneva-based source as saying that the meeting apparently should "start on Thursday and end on Friday, although it is not ruled out that it may last until Saturday."

The source added that the meeting will be a bilateral one and "there are no plans to involve the UN."

On September 9, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said that his country "welcomes" a Russian proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control. The Russian proposal was prompted by an apparently off-the-cuff comment by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Following Muallem's remarks, US President Barack Obama, whose administration has been intensively campaigning for strikes on Syria, suggested that the planned strikes could be averted if the Syrian "gesture" is "real." He also asked Congress to delay a scheduled vote on the strikes on Syria.

Obama, who has faced very weak support for his war plans, had said on August 31 that his administration would first seek authorization from Congress.

Meanwhile, China and Iran have backed the Russian proposal to prevent foreign military intervention in Syria.

The recent war rhetoric against Syria first gained momentum on August 21, when the militants operating inside the Middle Eastern country and its foreign-backed opposition claimed that over a thousand people had been killed in a government chemical attack on suburban Damascus.

The Syrian government categorically rejected the accusation.

MR/KA