DHAKA: The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) says it has begun to examine the first details of Syria`s chemical arsenal supplied by the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
China urged a quick implementation of a landmark US-Russian deal to destroy Syria`s chemical stockpile, as the OPCW, tasked with dismantling the weapons, confirmed it had received an initial report from Assad`s government on the arsenal.
The OPCW`s Technical Secretariat is now examining the details, it said on the eve of the disclosure deadline.
A UN diplomat said the OPCW had received the Syrian declaration on Thursday. "It is quite lengthy," he said.
UN resolution meeting
In New York, UN envoys were due to resume talks on a draft Security Council resolution that would enshrine the plan to neutralise the lethal weapons.
The OPCW said it had postponed a meeting on the issue scheduled for Sunday.
Syria is believed to possess about 1,000 tonnes of chemical toxins, and has agreed to destroy them under a joint Russian-US proposal designed to avert a US strike on Syria.
James Bays, Al Jazeera English`s diplomatic editor, said the submission was very significant. "If we go back to just two weeks ago, Syria would not even say that it had chemical weapons."
However, the timetable outlined in the Russia-US plan appears to be slipping. Under the terms the deal, the Syrian government has until the middle of next week to make a full, not partial, disclosure of his chemical weapons assets.
"Diplomats had hoped a Security Council resolution would be in place in time for the UN`s General Assembly meeting on Tuesday - it now might overshadow the meeting," Bays said.
"The OPCW also has to say if it can do the work in Syria before any resolution is agreed. Security Council action is very unlikely until next week."
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Saturday for a proposed peace conference in Geneva to take place "as soon as possible".
"We believe that a political settlement is the only right way out in defusing the Syrian crisis," Wang said.
He said Beijing would "support the early launch of the process to destroy Syria`s chemical weapons".
Ceasefire claims
Meanwhile, the Syrian regime has distanced itself from comments made by Qadri Jamil, one of three of its deputy prime ministers, who told the Guardian on Thursday that his government would consider a ceasefire if peace talks were organised.
Jamil told the Guardian: "Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side.”
The newspaper reported that Jamil as saying that for the government to enter talks, it would seek "an end to external intervention, a ceasefire and the launching of a peaceful political process in a way that the Syrian people can enjoy self-determination without outside intervention and in a democratic way."
However, Jamil`s party said on Friday that his comments did not represent the position of the government, only those of his Peoples` Needs Party.
It also said that Jamil had been misquoted by the newspaper, claiming he said "stopping the violence" rather than "ceasefire".
The Guardian said it stood by its story, and released an audio file of the interview regarding the ceasefire comments.
Source: Al-Jazeera
BDST: 1102 HRS, SEP 21, 2013
RS/BSK
