BREAKING NEWS - Syria agrees to dispose of chemical weapons stocks

By MICHAEL O'BRIEN

The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that Syrian President Bashar Hafez al-Assad has agreed to declare his country's stock of chemical weapons (CW) and dispose of those weapons.

Participation in the Chemical Weapons Convention as of March 27, 2009

   Signed and ratified

   Acceding or succeeding

   Only signed

   Non-signatory

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem confirmed that Syria will also sign the Chemical Weapons Convention which bans the use of CW worldwide. Syria was one of a handful of countries which were not signatories to the convention.

Assad has reportedly agreed to turn chemical weapons over to international control and agreed to stop production of CW. Russian President Putin says the agreement is predicated on the U.S. renouncing the use of military force in Syria.

The White House says the Syrian offer was in response to a credible threat of military force by the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the plan must be verifiable and the weapons must be disposed of or otherwise destroyed.

Graphics courtesy of Allstar86 

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