Kerry: Transition to remove Assad remains our end goal

Visiting US Secretary-of-State John Kerry on Monday warned President Bashar Al-Assad not to misinterpret the agreement on ridding Syria of chemical weapons as reinforcing his legitimacy, and he stressed that removing the Syrian leader from power through a transitional process remains the "end goal" for the US and its allies, Britain and France. Speaking at a press conference with his French and British counterparts in the French capital, Kerry said that agreement negotiated with Russia in Geneva last week, which would rid Syria of all chemical weapons, would weaken Al-Assad. At the same time the three nations present vowed to increase support for the opposition at the same time to help them "get out from under the chaos". And Kerry asserted, following Monday's talks, that "nothing in what we have done is meant to offer any notion to Assad that there is some legitimacy to his process, that he has some extended period as a so-called leader. We make it clear that Assad has lost all legitimacy to govern this country." Kerry affirmed that the US remains "committed to the opposition and committed to the Geneva process which calls for a transition government with full executive authority by mutual consent of the parties that will lay out the structure of the new Syria." "That's our end strategic goal here, and all of us remain committed to that goal and committed to ending the violence as soon as possible," Kerry indicated. "A week ago, the Syrian regime did not even admit it had chemical weapons," Kerry told journalists. "Today, that regime has agreed, at least through the Russians and some statements publicly, to rid itself of those weapons and to be accountable to world standards and sign up to the Chemical Weapons Convention," he added. But he said that "nothing can be accepted at face-value" thus the "critical" need for a "strong and binding" UN Resolution to enforce the agreement with Syria. Kerry said that the US and its allies wanted to "emphasize that removal of chemical weapons take away from Assad one of the tools that he has been using against the opposition to subjugate, oppress the aspirations for freedom" by the Syrian people. The removal of these weapons "will make the opposition safer" and the three Foreign Ministers announced they would also bolster opposition support at a meeting with the Syrian National Coalition next week in New York. The US Diplomat said that work was ongoing with the Russians on "translating" the Geneva weapons accord into a broader agreement that could bring peace to Syria at a new conference, but he did not speculate on when this might take place. But he underlined that the initial accord on the Syrian weapons and the UN resolution to be voted in the coming days. The resolution in New York "has to be strong, has to be real, has to be accountable, it has to transparent, it has to be timely. All of these things are critical, and it has to be enforced," he emphasised. He further warned about giving any impression of weakness to Damascus on the determination to implement the agreement to the fullest extent. "If the Assad regime thinks this is not enforceable or that we are not serious, they will play games," Kerry cautioned. "In Geneva, the Russians agreed with us that there should be unfettered, unrestricted access to (Syrian) sites in order to make certain we do this as rapidly as possible," he remarked. Kerry said that the UN resolution on Syrian chemical weapons must the "forceful" and the strongest possible and he warned "we will not tolerate avoidance or anything less than full compliance by the Assad regime with the core principles of what has been achieved here." He added that all parties, including Russia, agree there would be "consequences" for the Syrian regime if they renege on their commitment. He further warned that "should diplomacy fail, the military option is still on the table.