Syrian FM Welcomes Russia's Calls to Hand Over Chemical Weapons

Syrian President Bashar Assad's foreign minister on Monday welcomed Russia's proposal that Damascus hand over control of its chemical weapons arsenal to international supervision to avoid U.S. military action.

"I carefully listened to (Russian foreign minister) Sergei Lavrov's statement about it. In connection with this, I note that Syria welcomes the Russian initiative based on the Syrian leadership's concern about the lives of our nationals and the security of our country," Walid al-Muallem said in televised comments.

"We also hail the wisdom of the Russian leadership which is trying to prevent an American aggression against our people," he added without elaborating.

Lavrov called Monday on the Syrian regime to hand over control of its chemical weapons arsenal to international supervision as a way of staving off the threat of military action.

After talks with al-Muallem in Moscow, Lavrov called on Syria to "place the chemical weapons under international control and then have them destroyed".

He said such a plan would help "avoid military strikes" that are being considered by the United States and its allies. Lavrov said he had already made the proposal to Muallem and hoped for a "quick and positive answer" from Syria.

"We do not know if Syria agrees to this, but if placing the chemical weapons under international control helps avoid military strikes, then we will immediately get to work on this," Lavrov said.

"We have already handed over this proposal to minister Muallem, who is in Moscow, and hope for a quick and positive answer," Lavrov said in a prepared statement he read out to reporters at a news briefing in Moscow.

As well as handing over the weapons and having them destroyed, Syria should also become a full member of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Lavrov said.

Meanwhile, Syria's top rebel commander in a television interview Monday accused President Bashar Assad's regime and Moscow of deceit after Syria welcomed a Russian proposal to hand over its chemical weapons.

"We call for strikes and we warn the international community that this (Assad) regime tells lies, and the liar (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is its teacher. Putin is the biggest liar," Free Syrian Army chief Selim Idriss told Al-Jazeera.

Idriss was enraged by both Lavrov and Muallem's comments, and urged the world not to believe them.

"The regime wants to buy time to save itself" from a proposed strike, the rebel chief told the Qatar-based satellite broadcaster.

"I say to decision-makers that we know this regime, we have experienced it, and we warn you against falling into its trap of deceit and dishonesty," Idriss said.

Damascus and Moscow both "know that a vote is coming up in the U.S. Congress, and they also know that such strikes would bring down Assad's regime", he said.

Lavrov's comments on Monday came after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said earlier that Assad could resolve the crisis surrounding his purported use of chemical weapons by turning "every single bit" of his arsenal over to the international community by the end of the week.

Asked by a reporter in London whether there was anything Assad's government could do or offer to stop a military strike, Kerry answered: "Sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week -- turn it over, all of it without delay and allow the full and total accounting (of it), but he isn't about to do it and it can't be done."

Moscow has also made clear it is unconvinced that the Syrian regime was behind the chemical weapons attack on August 21 that the United States and its allies say was carried out by the government.

The visit by Muallem came as U.S. lawmakers were to return Monday from a summer break and debate limited U.S. military action in Syria.

Russia and the United States agreed in May to organize a peace conference in Geneva bringing all sides to the table, but the idea is fast receding as momentum grows for strikes over the alleged chemical attack outside Damascus.