Syria's foreign minister said Tuesday his government has accepted a Russian proposal to turn over control of its chemical weapons, potentially opening the door to defusing a stand-off with the United States as President Obama indicates he's willing to give the "diplomatic track" a try.
According to the Associated Press, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Tuesday after meeting with the Russian parliament speaker that his government quickly agreed to the Russian initiative to "derail the U.S. aggression."
The developments could dramatically alter the nature of the national address Obama plans to give on Tuesday night. He had been planning to make the case for a military strike, but in the last 24 hours has eased off that call amid budding international negotiations.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also postponed a test vote originally teed up for Wednesday on whether to authorize the use of force. Reid cited "international discussions" in his decision.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia is now working with Syria to prepare a detailed plan of action, which will be presented shortly.
U.S. officials are approaching the proposal with guarded optimism. They cite concerns about Syria and Russia stalling, and about the ability of the international community to verify the security of Syria's chemical weapons. But Obama, in an interview with Fox News on Monday, opened the door to pursuing that option.
"We will pursue this diplomatic track," Obama told Fox News. "I fervently hope that this can be resolved in a non-military way."
The president, while saying his advisers would "run to ground" that proposal, indicated he still wants Congress to debate a resolution to authorize a strike against Syria. "I think it is important for us not to let the pedal off the metal when it comes to making sure they understand we mean what we say," Obama said.
But the president's decision to pursue the diplomatic track is a departure from his decision more than a week ago to pursue a military strike. And it could bring the temperature down a notch in the ongoing stand-off between his administration and the Assad government.
The president's comments come after a proposal to have the Syrian government relinquish control of its stockpile quickly caught fire in the international community and in Washington.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/10/syrian-official-says-country-accepts-proposal-to-turn-over-chemical-weapons/
