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Putin: Global powers on the 'right track' with Syria plan

Following unanimous UN decision to disarm, with support from Russia, Syria is set to begin process of eliminating chemical weapon arsenal; UN inspectors reach Damascus

Global powers are "on the right track" with a plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons and can avert military intervention in the conflict if they work together, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

 

Agreement on the plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons was reached unanimously in the UN after US President Barack Obama asked Congress to approve air strikes to punish Syria's government over an Aug. 21 gas attack the United States says killed more than 1,400 people.

 

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"There is every reason to believe we are on the right track," Putin told an investment conference.

 

Putin said the chemical weapons plan, which has rekindled an effort to convene an international conference to seek a solution to the conflict, could not have been put in place without support from Obama and the leaders of many countries.

 

"I believe that if we continue to act in such a coordinated way, it will not be necessary to use force and increase the number of people wounded and killed in the long-suffering land of Syria," said Putin.

 

Russia has been Syrian President Bashar Assad's strongest backer during the civil war, blocking a number of Western initiatives in the UN Security Council and blaming the Aug. 21 gas attack on rebel forces.

 

Inspectors arrive in Damascus

To this effect, as deadly clashes raged on the edge of Damascus, international inspectors left their hotel on Wednesday to start work on the task of destroying Syria's chemical arsenal under the tightest of deadlines in the midst of a civil war. The inspectors' mission is to scrap Syria's capacity to manufacture chemical weapons by Nov. 1 and eliminate the country's entire 1,000-ton stockpile by mid-2014.

 

The UN Security Council on Wednesday also agreed on a statement calling on the Syrian government to improve access to civilians trapped in the country's conflict. The statement, which includes a call for cross-border humanitarian operations, is the council's second major united decision on the war in less than a week.

 

Meanwhile, activists say heavy clashes between Syrian troops and al-Qaeda-linked fighters in northern Damascus have killed at least 12 soldiers and pro-government militiamen.

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday that the 12 died the day before in the city's Barzeh district. Clashes in Barzeh flared up on Monday when the army launched a push to dislodge the rebels, including al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra fighters, from the district.

 

Reuters, AP and AFP contributed to this article.

 

 

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פרסום ראשון: 10.02.13, 18:37
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