In a new interview with Italian TV, Syrian President Bashar Assad expressed support for the UN Security Council resolution on Syria’s chemical disarmament, a resolution which passed on Friday and echoed existing deals surrounding Syria’s recent ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
“According to every chapter in the agreement, we don’t have any reservation,” Assad insisted, saying that Syria will comply with the CWC as it does every other treaty it has signed.
Inspectors are already in Syria, and the first disarmament efforts will begin on Tuesday. The process is expected to be relatively straightforward, since most of Syria’s arsenal is “unweaponized” precursors that can be readily dealt with.
In the interview, Assad also expressed some support for a negotiated solution to the ongoing civil war, though he insisted that no deal could be made with the al-Qaeda factions involved in the fighting, nor those that are calling for foreign invasion to install them as the new government. Since that covers most of the rebels, it suggests the diplomatic track on the war still has a long way to go.
