Assad pledges to seriously disarm chemical weapons

Syria is ready to provide a list of its weapons and allow experts access to its chemical weapons stockpiles.

In an interview with Fox News in Damascus aired on September 18, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denied that his government was behind the chemical weapons attack on August 21 in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus.

Mr. Assad said that the Syrian government has evidence that rebel groups used sarin nerve gas in the attack on August 21, and this evidence has been transferred to Russia.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (Photo: AFP).

The United States and its Western allies have repeatedly blamed Mr. Assad’s government for using chemical weapons in the attack. However, Mr. Assad said, “The whole story doesn’t fit together. It’s not the reality… We did not use any chemical weapons in Ghouta.”

President Assad also said that his government would abide by the agreement reached by Russian and US officials to destroy Syria's chemical weapons. According to Mr. Assad, the cost of doing this work is estimated at about $1 billion and will take at least a year to complete.

“We are not saying that we are partially participating… We are fully participating. We are committed to fully implementing the requirements of this agreement,” Mr. Assad said.

Mr. Assad also said that Syria was ready to talk to experts about technical aspects of dismantling its chemical weapons. Syria was ready to provide a list of weapons and allow experts access to its chemical weapons stockpiles.

Speaking about the August 21 attack, Mr. Assad said that no one had verified the authenticity of the videos showing the victims. “You can’t build a report based on videos. There are a lot of fakes on the Internet,” Mr. Assad said.

Mr. Assad said that the rebel forces were the culprits in using chemical weapons, because the forces could easily get their hands on sarin gas.

“Sarin is called kitchen gas. Why? Because anyone can make it in their own home, including the rebels. And we know that the rebels are backed by governments in other countries, and these countries may be the source of this gas,” Assad said.

According to Mr. Assad, the balance of opposition forces has changed during the conflict that has lasted nearly 3 years. Currently, 80-90% of the force are members of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda or its branches.

“Initially, the jihadists were ethnic minorities. By the end of 2012, there was an influx of tens of thousands of fighters from other countries,” Assad said. What is noteworthy, he said, is that these fighters were influenced by extremist ideology.

Asked if he would like to speak with US President Barack Obama, Mr. Assad said that it would depend on the content of the conversation. “It is not a chat,” Mr. Assad said, and that he would send Mr. Obama a message to “accommodate the will” of the American people.

Polls show that the majority of Americans do not support military intervention in Syria. It seems that Americans are tired of what has been happening in Afghanistan and Iraq./.

According to VOV - DT