US rejects Assad’s chemical weapons suggestion

US secretary of state John Kerry yesterday rejected Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s suggestion he begin submitting data on his chemical weapons arsenal a month after signing an international chemical weapons ban.

Kerry spoke at a news conference yesterday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Kerry noted Assad said a 30-day lead time would be standard.

Kerry said “there is nothing standard about this process” because Assad used chemical weapons. Kerry said the Syrian regime’s words are not enough.