Zee Media Bureau
United Nations: Moving ahead on US-Russia’s plan to tackle the issue of chemical weapons, Syria applied to join Chemical Weapons Convention which has been accepted by the United Nations on Sunday.
The treaty that bans the production and stockpiling of chemical weapons and orders the destruction of existing stocks, will be effective for Syria from October 14 – 30 days after the UN formally accepted the application today.
UN leader Ban Ki-moon "has today received the formal instrument of accession to the convention by the Syrian Arab Republic," said a UN spokeswoman Vannina Maestracci.
Syria will then also join the UN-backed Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons as enlisted in the first step of Russian plan to dismantle chemical arms.
The plan that was agreed upon by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after three days of talks in Geneva.
Under the plan, Assad regime must reveal the details of its chemical weapons stockpiles within a week and then allow inspectors to eliminate the arsenal.
"The United States and Russia are committed to the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons in the soonest and safest manner," Kerry said.
According to the agreement, the chemical arms inspectors will be in Syria as soon as November and the chemical stockpile is expected to be eliminated by mid-2014.
Obama also welcomed the plan but threatened the use of military force in case “diplomacy fails”.
Obama said in a statement that if diplomacy fails, "the United States remains prepared to act."
