AlQa'dah 6, 1434, Sep 12, 2013, SPA -- Syria took a first step toward giving up its chemical weapons arsenal by applying Thursday to join the international pact that bans such arms, but President Bashar al-Assad made clear he expects the United States to reciprocate. Al-Assad said earlier that Russia's initiative to secure and subsequently destroy Syrian chemical weapons could only work if the US stops its threats of military strikes. He told Russian broadcaster Russia 24 that Syria would provide information about its chemical arsenal one month after signing the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the production, stockpiling and use of such arms. UN spokesman Farhan Haq confirmed that Syria filed the necessary document in New York to join the convention. US Secretary of State John Kerry said one month was too long, even if the convention provided for this time span. "We believe there is nothing standard about this process," he said after a first meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva, where the US and Russia were holding talks on Russia's plan to remove Syria's chemical weapons. The US and Europe blame the Syrian regime for the chemical weapons attack on August 21, which Washington says killed 1,429 people; Russian President Vladimir Putin charged that rebels committed the crimes to provoke foreign intervention. Both sides in the conflict deny the accusations. --More 23:40 LOCAL TIME 20:40 GMT تغريد
