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THE UN HAS CONFIRMED that is has received documents from Syria beginning the process of the country joining the chemical weapons convention.
The move is seen as the first step towards Syria giving up its chemical weapons arsenal as part of a Russian plan.
President Bashar al-Assad confirmed today that Syria plans to give up its chemical weapons and demanded that the US drop threats of military action against his regime in return.
“When we see that the United States truly desires stability in our region and stops threatening and seeking to invade, as well as stops arms supplies to terrorists then we can believe that we can follow through with the necessary processes,” Assad said in an interview on Russian television.
Washington should dispense with the “politics of threats”, he warned.
Assad also signalled that he was ready to start the disarmament process by filing documents to the United Nations as the first step towards joining an international convention outlawing the possession and use of chemical weapons.
“Syria will be sending an appeal to the UN and the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in a few days, which will have technical documents necessary to sign the agreement,” he said.
US-Russia talks
Despite Assad’s demand, US President Barack Obama said he was hopeful US-Russia talks due to start in Geneva could produce a workable weapons transfer plan that will avert the need for military action.
Assad had earlier rejected suggestions the threat of airstrikes had forced his hand.
“Syria is handing over chemical weapons under international control because of Russia,” he said. “US threats have not affected the decision.”
Backed by a large team of experts, US Secretary of State John Kerry was to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva.
“I am hopeful that the discussions that Secretary Kerry has with Foreign Minister Lavrov as well as some of the other players in this can yield a concrete result and I know that he is going to be working very hard over the next several days over the possibilities there,” Obama said.
Washington wants to see if Assad is serious about putting his chemical weapons stockpile under international control, amid allegations the regime used sarin gas in an attack near Damascus last month.
Ahead of the talks, a senior US official said Washington was urging Syria to “declare all of their stockpile quickly”.
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And people think they have it bad here. As bad as people claim this country is we do look after the poorest members of society. I would say the majority of our homeless issues are drug or alcohol related and not so much due to the fact there is no financial help available.
Absolutely. A lot of people here don’t know how good they have it
Not just financial help but mental health services. Not to mention all manner of support to ex military. US has a shocking number of homeless
Bloody hell, let them have their shanty towns/ buildings, at least until somebody has a better offer?
Meanwhile trillions of dollars paid on defence and monitoring people’s emails.
That country is going the way of all empires.
It’s fascinating, yet disheartening, to watch.
Land of the free
Bulldozing their shacks doesn’t sound like freedom does it.
Imagine our county councils bulldozing traveler halting sites. There would be an outcry. It wouldn’t happen in Ireland.
23 thousand homeless kids in New York City, the richest city in the richest country in the world yet their government spends over 50% of their tax take on a military of global conquest proportions…..there is something rotten in the state of Denmark.
Didn’t look that bad on The Wire.
As of 2013, more than 15% of the U.S. population receive food assistance, costing $76 billion. This was not the American dream.
“It’s all in the game, y’all”
The present administration is hostile to small and medium size business through over regulation and mandates which make it hard to start and expand business to create jobs. The public school system is a joke and getting worse so the labor force is not prepared for high skilled jobs. Many homeless are also mentally ill and the working poor who have jobs but cannot afford proper housing. But progress has been made, another state is moving toward legalising marijuana and a baptist is giving out guns to attract new members. All is not lost.
Land of the free….yeah right!
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