Syrian president Bashar Assad said in an interview with Chinese television that there is “no question” that he will allow UN inspectors to visit chemical weapons sites.
“Since its independence, Syria has been committed to all the treaties it has signed. We will honor everything that we have agreed to do,” he said on China’s state television CCTV.
Under a deal brokered by the United States and Russia, Assad must report data on the country’s chemical weapons within a week and have them destroyed by next year.
Assad criticized efforts by the U.S. and its allies to pass a draft resolution in the United Nations that could authorize the use of force if Syria fails to hand over its chemical weapons, saying it was targeting “an imaginary enemy.”
Separately, Reuters reports that the Chinese foreign minister told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that Chinese experts were willing to participate in the destruction process. China has joined Russia in opposing the use or threat of military force.
[Reuters]