World
China welcomes Syria's decision
Beijing, Sept 11 : China on Wednesday said Syria has taken a "major step" in easing tensions in the country by accepting Russia's proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control.
"China welcomes the Syrian government\'s latest statement. We hope all parties can seize the opportunity, respond positively to the statement and push for a proper solution to the issue of chemical weapons in Syria through political and diplomatic means," Chinese news agency Xinhua reported quoting Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei.
"On the Syria issue, we should safeguard the international rule prohibiting use of chemical weapons while adhering to a political solution," Hong said.
With the possibility of a U.S.-led military strike still looming, the Syrian government has accepted a Russian proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control, Syria\'s foreign minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
"We held a very fruitful round of talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday, and he proposed an initiative relating to chemical weapons. And in the evening we agreed to he Russian initiative," Interfax news agency quoted minister Walid al-Moualem as saying.
The U.S. has been lobbying for international support to launch targeted strikes against regime forces after it accused the Syrian government of killing 1,400 of Syrians in chemical weapons attack on Damascus on Aug 21.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had initially denied the charges of the Aug 21 attack.
