KERRY MEETS NETANYAHU TO DISCUSS GENEVA AGREEMENT ON SYRIA

        Tel Aviv, 11 Dul Qo’dah 1434/17 September 2013 (MINA) – A day after the US and Russian foreign ministers reached an agreement to disarm Syria of chemical weapons in Geneva, Kerry left for Israel.

        American Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Israel on Sunday after announcing with the agreement with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday in Geneva. Kerry is expected to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and update him on the details of the agreement.

        Kerry will gave Netanyahu an update of the schedule set for Syria: the first stage will have Syria handing over a detailed account of the chemical weapons in its possession to the UN within a week.

       Afterwards, Damascus will give free access to UN inspectors who will begin their work to move the chemical weapons. The inspectors must start their work by November. In the third stage – the chemical weapons will be removed from Syria and destroyed – the deadline being the middle of 2014.

       Kerry and Netanyahu are also expected to discuss the peace talks , though as mentioned, the main subject will be Syria.

       After his meeting with Netanyahu, Kerry will return to Europe and will meet with British and French foreign ministers – Laurent Fabius and William Hague, whose countries supported the initiative and Kerry is expected to fill them in on the deal details as well. 

          At the moment, the Russians and Americans are expecting to hand in a joint proposal to the UN Security Council. With the Russian support of the proposal, the two sides are confident that the UN Security Council will approve the move unanimously, Jerussalem on-line reported as monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

U.S-Russia Deal

         Russia and the United States reached a deal on a framework that will see the destruction or removal of Syria’s chemical weapons by mid- 2014. Under the plan, the Assad government has one week to hand over an inventory of its chemical weapons arsenal.

        Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry announced the plan on putting an end to Syria’s chemical weapons program following their third day of negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland.

        Kerry outlined several points of the plan, which would see the “rapid assumption of control by the international community” of Syria’s chemical weapons. He further stressed US-Russia commitment to the complete destruction of not only of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal, but also its production and refinement capabilities.

        Syria will also become a party to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which outlaws their production and use. On Saturday, the UN said it had received all documents necessary for Syria to join the chemical weapons convention and that Syria would come under the treaty in 30 days starting on October 14.

         Damascus must submit within a week’s time – “and not 30 days” – a complete inventory of related arms, “including names, types, and quantities of its chemical weapons agents, types of munitions, and location and form of storage, production and research and development facilities.”

         The Syrian government should provide the OPCW, the UN and other supporting personnel “with the immediate and unfettered right to inspect any and all sites in Syria.” Lavrov later said that security for all international inspectors on the ground should be provided for not only by the government, but opposition forces as well.

         It remains undecided who will actually be tasked with destroying the stock, although their destruction“outside of Syria” and under “OPWC supervision” would prove to be optimal.

        On the timetable, Kerry said UN inspectors must be on the ground no later than November, while the destruction of chemical weapons must be completed by the middle of 2014.

        “Providing this framework is fully implemented it can end the threat these weapons pose not only to the Syrian people but also their neighbors,” Kerry said adding that Russian and US teams of experts had reached “a shared assessment” of the existing stockpile and that Syria must destroy all of its weapons. It was possible that the Syrian rebels have some chemical weapons, he acknowledged.

        If Damascus fails to comply with the plan, a response in accordance with UN Charter Chapter 7 will follow, Kerry said, in a reference to the use of military force. The chapter provides for “action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security” in the event other measures fail.

        People walk along a damaged street filled with debris in Deir al-Zor September 4, 2013. But Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said the agreement did not include any potential use of force against Syria. He however said that deviations from the plan, including attacks on UN inspectors, would be brought to the UN Security Council, which would decide on further action.

        There is no prior agreement about what form the Security Council’s measures might take if Syria does not comply, Kerry said.

        The joint press conference was rather jovial in nature, contrasting sharply with the public barbs which have been traded between Russian and US officials in recent days.

         Kerry in fact concluded the press conference by teasing Lavrov that he “could be a senator” after the Russian FM gave a rather voluble reply to a question posed by a Russian journalist.  (T/P03/P04/E1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)