Syria chemical deal not a ‘lifeline’ to Assad, says Kerry
US Secretary of State John Kerry says any deal over Syria’s chemical weapons is not a “lifeline” to President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime has “lost all legitimacy”.
Speaking in a joint news conference with Foreign Secretary William Hague and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Mr Kerry said Assad should not think he has an “extended period” as leader.
‘Legitimacy’
“Removal of chemical weapons takes away from Assad one of the tools that he has been using against the opposition, against the people of his country, to subjugate, oppress their aspirations for freedom, for opportunity, and for a role in the governance of their country,” Mr Kerry said.
“That will be taken away from him, and that will therefore make the opposition safer.
If Assad fails to comply … we are all agreed, and that includes Russia, that there will be consequences. John Kerry
“But nothing in what we (Britain, France and the US) have done is meant to offer any notion to Assad that there is some legitimacy to his process, that he has some extended period as a leader – so called.
“We make it clear that Assad has lost all legitimacy to be possible to govern this country, and we remain committed to the opposition, and committed to the Geneva process which calls for a transition government, with full executive authority, by mutual consent of the parties, that will lay out the structure of the new Syria. That is our end strategic goal here.”
The statement followed talks between the UK, US and France aimed at delivering a resolution to the UN Security Council on how to transfer Syria’s chemical weapons to international control.
These talks followed an agreement between the US and Russia on the framework by which Assad’s chemical weapons would be removed.
Under the agreement, Assad has less than a week to hand over a full account of his chemical weapons arsenal.
He must also allow UN-backed inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to complete on-site checks at chemical weapons facilities by mid November.
The Russia-US agreement envisages the removal of all existing stockpiles by the middle of next year.
Consequences
However, Mr Kerry said failure to comply with the terms of this agreement could lead to military action being taken against the Syrian government.
“If Assad fails to comply … we are all agreed, and that includes Russia, that there will be consequences,” Mr Kerry said.
Read more: How could Syria's chemical weapons be destroyed?
Mr Hague said: “It is the Assad regime that has stockpiled these weapons and that has used them repeatedly against the Syrian people.
“So the pressure is on them to comply with this agreement in full. The world must be prepared to hold them to account if the don’t and our three countries are certainly determined to do so.”
UN report
The talks come ahead of the release of a UN report into the chemical weapons attack in Damascus on 21 August – the event which triggered global condemnation and the threat of a US strike on Syria.
The remit of the report is not to attribute blame for the attack, but UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last week that he believed it would be “an overwhelming report” showing that chemical weapons were used.
Mr Ban – who was apparently unaware that his comments were being broadcast on UN television – also said that the Assad regime had “committed many crimes against humanity.”