Britain welcomes US-Russia plan for Syria chemical weapons

Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed an agreement between Russia and the United Sates to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons. Hague said the deal, hammered after three days of negotiations between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his American counterpart John Kerry in Geneva, is a "significant step forward", Al-Alam reported. Lavrov and Kerry agreed to call for the revelation of full details of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile within a week, placing them under international supervision and removing or destroying them by mid-2014. "The priority must now be full and prompt implementation of the agreement, to ensure the transfer of Syria's chemical weapons to international control," a Foreign Office statement quoted Hague as saying. "I will hold talks with Secretary Kerry and (French) Foreign Minister (Laurent) Fabius in Paris on Monday to discuss the way forward, including action at the United Nations Security Council," he added. The British Foreign Secretary also claimed they will push for "everything we can to stop the continuing bloodshed in Syria" and work to bring "all sides together to agree a political solution to the conflict". The call for military action against Syria intensified after foreign-backed opposition forces accused Syria of launching a chemical attack on militant strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21. Syria, however, has strongly denied the accusations and pointed finger at foreign-backed militants in this regard. Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. A very large number of the militants operating inside Syria are foreign nationals. According to reports, the West and its regional allies - especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey - are supporting the militants inside Syria.