Syria stresses commitment to US-Russian deal

Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi stressed Sunday his country's commitment to a Russian-U.S. deal struck a day earlier to ensure stripping Syria's chemical arsenal. Syria will commit itself to the deal to remove its chemical arsenal once the deal is endorsed by the UN, al-Zoubi said in an interview with Western media Sunday which excerpts were carried by the Lebanese al-Manar TV. He added that his government has started preparing the weapons' count list. "We have started to certify our documents, we are doing our job, and we don't waste time," al-Zoubi reportedly said. Syria will implement the Russian-U.S. plan "when it becomes more tangible" in light of a UN Security Council resolution, he said. Moreover, the minister said his country would also facilitate the mission of chemical weapons' inspectors as concluded between Washington and Moscow. After a three-day meeting in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed Saturday on a plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons under international control by mid 2014, a move seen as would open the door for a political solution to Syria's 30-month-old crisis . Moreover, Syria applied for joining the Chemical Weapons Convention, which outlaws the production, possession and use of chemical weapons, and the UN confirmed receiving the treaty papers from Syria.