Iraq welcomes Russia's initiative over Syrian chemical weapons

Iraq on Wednesday welcomed a Russian initiative to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control to avoid a possible U.S. strike against Syria. "Iraq welcomes the Russian initiative that calls on the Syrian government to hand over their stockpiles of chemical weapons for international supervision and control as an international measure of disarmament," an Iraqi Foreign Ministry statement said. It added that the initiative comes to ease the tension in the Syrian crisis and to strengthen the opportunities of a political solution. On Monday, Russia proposed an initiative over the Syrian crisis, stimulating to secure the chemical stockpiles of the Syrian government under international observation, apparently in an attempt to cool down the tension and to prevent a possible U.S. military action against Syria. Iraq frequently supported calls for peaceful solution for the Syrian crisis to stop further bloodshed in Syria and to prevent the violence spillover to neighboring countries as well as the whole region.