Syria's Assad confirms Russia's chemical weapons control plan

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has confirmed that his country’s chemical weapons will be placed under international control. In an interview with a Russian television station, he stressed the move was the result of the Russian initiative and not because of the prospect of US military action. But the Syrian leader warned that his country would only fulfill its obligations to handover its chemical arsenal when Washington stops threatening to strike. Assad also repeated his denial that his government was behind last month’s chemical attack in Damascus that is estimated by the United States to have killed more than 1,400 people.