Speaking on Russian TV, President Bashar al-Assad has - perhaps unsurprisingly - proclaimed that his decision to place Syria's chemical weapons arsenal under international control was the result of Russia's proposal... and not US military threats. As Russia Today reports [3], Assad stated
"Syria is handing over its chemical weapons under international supervision because of Russia, the US threats did not influence the decision."
Rossiya 24 is also reporting that Syria is to send documents to the UN for the Chemical Arms Pact. We are sure Israel will be pleased.