Obama welcomes Syria chemical deal

President Barack Obama has welcomed an agreement to secure and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile as an “important, concrete step” toward the ultimate goal of eliminating them but warned that the US remains prepared to act if the attempt at a diplomatic solution fails.

Mr Obama said the deal between the US and Russia offers the chance to destroy weapons the US and more than 30 governments maintain were used by President Bashar Assad to kill more than 1,400 Syrians during an attack last month in the suburbs of the capital of Damascus.