BEIRUT — In an apparent sign of caving in to global pressure, Syrian regime of President Bashar Al-Assad Thursday applied to sign up to the global ban on chemical weapons. This is a major first step in a Russian-backed plan that would see Syrian regime abandoning its arsenal of poison gas to avert US military strikes. The United Nations said it had received Syria's application to join the Chemical Weapons Convention, shortly after Assad promised to deliver it within days. US Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Geneva with a team of officials to study Russia's plans to disarm Syria of its chemical weapons. This week's eleventh-hour Russian initiative interrupted a Western march to war, persuading US President Barack Obama to put strikes on hold. Syria, which denies it was behind last month's poison gas attack near Damascus, has agreed to Moscow's proposal that it give up its chemical weapons stocks. “In the next couple of days, Syria will send a petition to the United Nations and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons,” Assad told Russian TV. Soon after the interview was broadcast, UN spokesman Farhan Haq confirmed that the document has been received from Damascus. The move would end Syria's status as one of only seven countries outside the international convention that outlaws stockpiling chemical weapons. Other holdouts include regional neighbors Egypt and Israel, as well as North Korea. — Reuters
