19/09/2013 09:41
Assad: Syria needs one year to destroy chemical weapons
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said he is committed to a plan to destroy his country's chemical weapons but warned it could take about a year, the BBC reported.
Speaking to Fox News, Mr Assad again denied claims that his forces were responsible for a deadly chemical attack near Damascus on 21 August.
The Syria disarmament plan was unveiled by the US and Russia last weekend.
The West wants the deal enshrined in a UN resolution backed by the threat of military force, but Russia objects.
Damascus - backed by Moscow - has insisted that rebel forces carried out last month's attack in the Ghouta area.
In a separate development, fierce fighting has been reported between two rebel groups in the north of Syria.
Activists said the fighting began when jihadists from the al-Qaeda-linked group, the Islamic State of Iraq, and fighters from the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) clashed in the town of Azaz, near the Turkish border.
This is believed to be one of the biggest confrontations so far between the jihadists and the FSA.
Referring to the issue of destroying Syria's stockpiles of chemical weapons, Mr Assad said it was "a very complicated operation, technically."
"And it needs a lot of money, some estimates (say) about a billion.
"So it depends, you have to ask the experts what they mean by quickly. It has a certain schedule. It needs a year, or maybe a little bit more."
And when asked whether he would be willing to hand over chemical to the US, President Assad said: "It needs about one billion. It is very detrimental to the environment. If the American administration is ready to pay this money and take the responsibility of bringing toxic materials to the United States, why don't they do it?"