The United States and Russia have agreed on a framework for ending
Syria's chemical- weapons program. The agreement was announced by U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov on Saturday as they wrapped up talks in Geneva. The plan
requires Syria to make a full declaration within a week listing all of
its chemical-weapons storage and production sites. It calls for the
destruction of chemical arms production and mixing equipment by
November and the elimination or removal from Syria of all
chemical-weapons material and equipment by the middle of 2014. U.S.
and Russian officials agreed to push for a U.N. resolution enforcing
the plan without threatening military action. Kerry said if Syria does
not comply with the agreement, the U.S. could request a U.N. Security
Council "Chapter 7" resolution, which authorizes punitive action.
Lavrov said the deal does not include anything about potential use of
force. Lavrov, who disputes President Assad's responsibility for last
month's attack, says the deal holds Syrian rebels to the same
standards. Plan could avert US military strike During the three days
of talks, U.S. and Russian officials agreed that Syria currently holds
about 1,000 metric tons of chemical agents and precursors including
sulfur mustard and sarin gas. U.S. officials believe there are about
45 storage sites holding those munitions and related equipment, but
they also say Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime may have
shifted the location of parts of its arsenal. Story continues below
photo gallery: Syrian compliance with the agreement could avert a U.S.
military strike in retaliation for the Syrian government's alleged
poison-gas attack on civilians last month near Damascus. The United
States says more than 1,400 people died in the attack, and that it has
conclusive evidence showing the Syrian regime was responsible. The
Assad government contends rebels carried out the attack. U.S.
President Barack Obama welcomed the framework agreement with Russia,
calling it "an important, concrete step." But, he added, there is much
more work to be done. In a statement Saturday, Obama said the U.S.
will continue working with its allies and Russia to ensure there is a
verifiable process of identifying and dismantling Syria's stockpile of
banned weapons, and that there will be consequences if Assad's
government does not comply. Mixed reactions U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon said he is looking forward to learning more about the
framework agreement, and pledged the support of the United Nations in
its implementation. Ban said he hopes the agreement will prevent any
further use of chemical weapons in Syria, and that it can help pave
the path for a political solution to the civil war and "stop the
appalling suffering inflicted on the Syrian people" since 2011. France
and Britain hailed the agreement Saturday. French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius and British Foreign Secretary William Hague will meet
in Paris with Secretary of State Kerry on Monday to discuss the
agreement in detail. European Union foreign- policy chief Catherine
Ashton said a number of EU states have the technical capacity to
assist in securing and dismantling chemical weapons sites in Syria.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said thanks to the deal between the
United States and Russia, there is a chance once more for a political
solution to the Syrian crisis. The head of the rebel Free Syrian Army
said his group rejects the deal reached in Geneva, and believes Russia
and the Syrian regime were merely "playing games to waste time."
Speaking to reporters in Istanbul, General Selim Idriss said his
forces will continue fighting against Assad's government. Syria's main
Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition (SNC),
elected longtime political activist Ahmad Tumeh its new prime minister
as it seeks to boost its standing as a credible political alternative
in the civil war- stricken country. SNC members have previously
dismissed prior diplomatic efforts to address Syria's chemical weapons
and said the plan gives the Syrian army free rein to fight on with
conventional weapons. In Washington, two prominent Republican senators
had a sharply critical initial reaction to the Kerry-Lavrov plan. They
predicted it would turn out to be "meaningless" unless it explicitly
raises the possibility of the use of military force against Syria. In
a joint statement, Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham
characterized the deal as "an act of provocative weakness" on
America's part. The two senators said the agreement does not resolve
Syria's "real problem" — the civil conflict that has resulted in over
100,000 deaths. UN investigation A long-awaited United Nations report
on Syria's alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians in August is
due out Monday. Secretary-General Ban Ki- Moon has said the findings,
based in site visits, boxes of evidence and eye witness accounts,
"will be an overwhelming report that the chemical weapons was used."
