REPORT: Russia could drop support for Assad- Kremlin aide

      
Syria has disclosed all the information on its chemical weapons that was expected by an agreed Saturday deadline, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said.             
The disclosure is a crucial stage in the process that should lead to the weapons' destruction. Syria is believed to possess about 1,000 ton of toxins, and has agreed to destroy them under a joint Russian-US proposal designed to avert a US military strike on Syria.               

"The Technical Secretariat is currently reviewing the information received," a statement on the OPCW website said.          

The Syrian government has accepted the plan and has already sought to join the OPCW. For Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Russian proposal to remove chemical weapons provided an unexpected reprieve from the military action which President Barack Obama had planned after the Aug. 21 attack. For Obama, it solved a dilemma posed when he found Congress unwilling to support war on Syria.                  

Once the OPCW executive has voted to follow the Lavrov-Kerry plan in a meeting expected early next week, the Security Council is due to give its endorsement of the arrangements - marking a rare consensus after two years of East-West deadlock over Syria.                

Reactions:             

Russia's Interfax news agency is quoting a top Kremlin official as saying the government could drop its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if the latter reneges on his commitments to give up chemical weapons.          

Interfax on Saturday quoted Sergei Ivanov, President Vladimir Putin's chief of staff, as saying Russia's position "could change" if it was "certain that Assad is cheating" on giving up chemical weapons.                 

Ivanov emphasized that he was speaking "theoretically and hypothetically." While speaking at a conference on Thursday, Putin said he was confident that Assad's government would be quick to comply.        

In turn, China called for an immediate implementation of the US-Russian agreement regarding the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons, hoping that a political solution will be reached.                           
In this context, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi declared that China is a permanent member of the UN Security council and has the power of veto, stressing that his country strongly rejects the use of chemical weapons by any party.            

On the field:             

Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed at least 15 people overnight in a Sunni Muslim village north-west of the city of Hama, activists said on Saturday.           

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a woman and two children were among those killed in the attack in the village of Sheikh Hadid by soldiers and pro-Assad militia.             

The British-based group, which monitors violence in Syria through a network of activists and medical and security sources, said the killings followed attacks by rebels on military checkpoints in the area over the previous two days.               

It said 26 people - 16 soldiers and 10 members of the pro-Assad National Defence Force - were killed when rebels attacked a nearby checkpoint on Thursday. There was also fighting in the village of Jalma, two miles (3 km) south of Sheikh Hadid, on Friday, it said.              


REUTERS/AP/LBCI


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