CAIRO: Arab League chief Nabil Al-Arabi on Sunday welcomed a US-Russian deal to remove Syria’s chemical weapons, calling it “a step closer to a political solution” to the conflict.
Syrian minister of state for national reconciliation Ali Haidar said the deal is “a victory for Syria” because it averted war that could involve Western powers.
But the main Western-backed Syrian opposition group said the deal would only encourage President Bashar Assad’s forces to strike at civilian targets with impunity.
On Sunday, the opposition called for a ban on the use of ballistic missiles and air power by Assad’s forces in addition to the prohibition on chemical weapons.
In endorsing the Russia-US arrangement, Arab League's Al-Arabi said the deal would “contribute to providing better conditions for the Geneva II conference and help achieve a political solution to the Syrian crisis.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier announced an agreement to eliminate Syria’s chemical arms stockpile, after three days of talks in Geneva.
The Arab League, which suspended Syria and replaced it with the main opposition coalition, had slammed the Syrian regime’s alleged chemical attack as having crossed a “global red line.”
Arabi called on “all parties of influence to take responsibility through the UN Security Council to ensure a comprehensive cease-fire” and allow access to humanitarian and medical aid, he said.
The conflict in Syria has killed more than 110,000 people since it began in March 2011 with peaceful protests that led to an armed uprising.
Germany's offer
The ambitious plan to dismantle and destroy Syria’s chemical arms stockpile — one of the largest in the world — gives Assad a week to hand over details of his regime’s arsenal of the internationally banned arms in order to avert unspecified sanctions and the threat of US-led military strikes.
It also specifies there must be immediate access for arms control experts and that inspections of what the US says is some 45 sites linked to the Syrian chemical weapons program must be completed by November.
Germany is offering to help destroy the chemical weapons.
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement Sunday that Berlin is “prepared to make a technical or financial contribution to the destruction of chemical weapons from Syria.” He didn’t elaborate, but officials say Germany has helped destroy chemical weapons in Libya and elsewhere in the past.
Germany in recent weeks has ruled out participating in any military action against Syria and has pushed for action by the long-deadlocked UN Security Council.
'Still not enough'
In a statement, the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) complained that the framework deal does not address Syria’s broader civil war or the use of conventional weapons, which have been responsible for the vast majority of the more than 100,000 deaths in the conflict.
“Chemical weapons attacks are a part of a bigger scheme of crimes against humanity committed by the Assad regime, including using the Syrian air forces and ballistic missiles on residential areas,” the SNC said in a statement posted on its official website. “The Syrian Coalition insists that the prohibition of the use of chemical weapons, which killed more than 1,400 Syrian civilians, be extended to include the prohibition of the use of air forces and ballistic missiles on residential areas.”
SNC said that securing Syria’s chemical weapons “must be for achieving justice and bringing the perpetrators of chemical weapons to the international court.”
While such a ban would likely curb the bloodshed in some areas, it’s unclear how such a ban would be imposed or enforced.
The US accuses the Assad government of carrying out a poison gas attack against rebel-held suburbs of Damascus on Aug. 21 that Washington says killed more than 1,400 people. Other estimates of the death toll are far lower. The Syrian government denies the allegations and blames the rebels.
The suspected chemical attack raised the prospect of US-led punitive military action against Syria. The rebels hoped that foreign missile strikes would tip the balance of power on the ground in their favor. But as the strikes appeared imminent, President Barack Obama decided to ask Congress for authorization, delaying any armed response.
Russia then floated the idea of Syria relinquishing its chemical arsenal to avert Western strikes, and the Assad regime quickly agreed. The US and Russia then struck a framework agreement Saturday to secure and destroy Syria’s chemical stockpile.
The Coalition also repeated its calls for military aid in order to tip the balance of power on the ground and “force the regime to end its military campaign and accept a political solution that leads to the democratic transformation of Syria.”
The US and its allies have balked at sending heavy weapons to the rebels, fearful the arms could land in the hands of extremists who are among the most effective fighters in the opposition ranks. Washington announced plans months ago to deliver some weapons to the opposition, but rebels say they have yet to receive anything.
