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Syrian president tells US network it will take at least a year and cost $1bn By DAVE CLARK Syrian President Bashar al- Assad promised on Wednesday that he would surrender Syria’schemical weapons but warned it would take at least a year to do so and would cost $1 billion.迷你倉His latest appearance came as UN envoys debated a drat res- olution that would enshrine a joint US-Russian plan to secure and neutralize his banned weapons in international law.In an interview with US net- work Fox News, Assad insisted that Syria was not gripped by civil war but was the victim of ini ltration by foreign-backed al-Qaeda i ghters.He insisted that his forces had not been behind an Aug 21 gas attack on the Damas- cus suburbs that let hundreds of civilians dead but vowed nevertheless to hand over his deadly arsenal.It was Assad’s second inter- view this month with US televi- sion and one of a series of meet- ings with Western journalists to counter mounting political pressure from Western capitals.After last month’s barrage of sarin-loaded rockets, which Western capitals say was clear- ly launched by the regime, US President Barack Obama called for punitive military strikes.But with many US lawmak- ers and Western public opinion against the airstrikes, Assad’s ally Russia seized the opportunity to propose a diplomatic solution.Pushed by President Vladimir Putin, the White House agreed to hold i re while Russia and the international community, with Assad’s agreement, drew up a disarmament plan.Assad reiterated his pledge to cooperate but insisted he had not been forced to do so by US threats of action. “I think it’s a very complicated operation, technically. And it needs a lot of money, about a billion,” he told Fox. “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.”While Assad pursued his media counterattack, the i ve UN Security Council powers held new talks on a resolution backing the Russia-US plan to destroy the chemical weapons.Western nations could seek a Security Council vote this weekend, if Russia agrees. UN envoys from the US, Russia, France, Britain and China held two hours of talks at the US mission. “There is no accord yet. h ere will be more negotia- tions,” said one UN diplomat.h e disarmament plan will face its first big test on Sat- urday, the one-week dead- line announced by Moscow and Washi迷你倉gton for Assad to provide a list of his chemical facilities.h e situation on the ground became still more complex and dangerous, when, according to residents, an al-Qaeda front group overran a Syrian border town. “h e Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has seized complete control of Azaz. h ey control the town’s entrances,”said an activist inside the town.The development in Azaz comes amid increasing reports of fighting in northern Syria between ISIS and non-jihadist rebels vying to bring down Assad’s regime.I think it’s a very complicated operation, technically. And it needs a lot of money, about a billion.”BASHAR AL-ASSAD SYRIA’S PRESIDENT ON A DISARMAMENT PLAN FOR HIS COUNTRY’S CHEMICAL WEAPONS.REUTERS/SANA/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad speaks during an interview with US network Fox News from Damascus, in a photograph distributed by Syria’s national news agency SANA on Thursday.MCCAIN RESPONDS TO PUTIN’S ARTICLEUS Senator John McCain on Thursday accused Russian President Vladi- mir Putin of ally- ing himself with tyrants and ruling through violence and repression, in a scathing retort to a New York Times editorial by Putin earlier this month.In an editorial published on news website Pravda.ru, McCain criticised the Russian leader’s policies at home and in Syria, where Putin has repeat- edly protected President Bashar al-Assad.“(Putin) is not enhanc- ing Russia’s global reputa- tion. He is destroying it.He has made her a friend to tyrants and an enemy to the oppressed, and untrusted by nations that seek to build a safer, more peaceful and prosperous world,” wrote the senior senator from Arizona, who is also a leading Repub- lican voice on military af airs.US-Russia ties are at one of their lowest points since the Cold War as friction over the fate of the fugitive former National Security Agency contrac- tor Edward Snowden, to whom Russia awarded asylum, have added to tensions over Syria.Putin’s op-ed article took issue with US Presi- dent Barack Obama’sclaims of “American exceptionalism” and said a strike against Assad could escalate the con? ict that has already killed more than 100,000 people.After Russia gave asy- lum to Snowden, McCain said Washington should complete missile-defense programs in Europe and expand NATO to include Russian neighbor Geor- gia. Both endeavors are anathema to Moscow.REUTERS John McCain, Republican US senator from Arizona儲存倉